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BY  1535  .B28  1922 

Bailey,  Albert  Edward,  1871- 

1951. 
The  use  of  art  in  religious 

education 


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COMMUNITY  TRAINING  SCHOOL  SERIES.  NORMAN  E.  RICHARDSON.  EdU«nlx^7CAL   S 


The  Use  of  Art 
in  Religious  Education 


BY  ^y^^ 

ALBERT  EDWARD  BAILEY 

Professor  of  Religious  Art  and  Archeeoiogy 
Boston  University 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1922,  by 
ALBERT  EDWARD  BAILEY 

All  Rights  Reserved 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


BAILEY 


ART 
IN 
RELIGIOUS 
EDUCATION 


cLlb.  buck.  2234] 

c Watch  folded  front. 3 


CONTENTS 

chapter  page 

Editor's  Introduction 9 

Preface ii 

I.  Art  as  the  Handmaid  of  Religion 13^ 

The  Antiquity  of  Religious  Art. 
The  Function  of  Art  in  Egypt. 
Greek  Art  Begins  in  Religion. 
Buddhist  Art  as  Religious  Propaganda. 
How  Art  Became  Christian. 
Christianity  the  Saviour  of  Art. 
The  Art  of  Europe. 
Present-day  Art  and  Religion. 

II.  The  Function  of  Religious  Art 27  / 

The  Artist  as  Genius. 

The  Artist  as  Visualizer. 

The  Artist  as  Intellectual  Interpreter. 

The  Artist  as  Emotionalizer. 

The  Artist  as  Revealer  of  Spiritual  Values. 

The  Artist  as  Ideal  Builder. 

III.  The  Language  of  Art 34  y 

Art  Speaks. 
Composition. 

(a)  Linear. 

(b)  Psychological. 

(c)  By  Emphasis. 

(d)  Emotional  Values  of  Composition. 
Color. 

Symbolism. 

How  to  Read  a  Picture. 

IV.  Pictures  and  Children 42 

Imagery ;  its  Nature  and  Sources. 

Enlarging  One's  Imagery. 

The  Permanence  of  Childhood  Imagery. 

How  to  Select  Pictures  for  Children. 

The  Picture-story  Method. 

A  Child's  Use  of  the  Picture  Book. 

After-effects. 

People  of  the  Bible  in  Pictures. 

V.  Pictures  for  Juniors 58 

The  Passion  for  Reality. 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

The  Art  Interests  of  Juniors. 

Realistic  Art  in  Religious  Teaching. 

Realistic  Artists:  James  Tissot.  ^ 

William  Holman  Hunt  and  Others. 

The  Use  of  Photographs. 

Picture  Journeys. 

The  School  Equipment. 

VI.  The  Hero  in  Art 68 

Training  by  Hero-worship. 

The  Pictured  Hero. 

The  Hero  Universal. 

A  Hero  from  Mythology. 

A  Heroine  from  Church  History. 

Heroes  from  Mediaeval  Legend. 

Heroines  from  History. 

Further  Suggestions. 

VII.  Art  and  the  Adolescent:  The  Intellect 79 

The  Dawning  of  Adolescence. 

The  Interest  in  Belief. 

The  Historic  Use  of  Art  as  Religious  Propaganda. 

Teaching  Methods. 

The  Apostles'  Creed  Interpreted  by  the  Masters. 

VIII.  Art  and  the  Adolescent:  The  Emotions 90 

The  Emotional  Intensity  of  Adolescence. 
Art  the  Interpreter  of  Emotion. 
Art  as  an  Aid  to  Worship. 
Art  in  the  House  of  Worship. 
The  Cultivation  of  Sympathy. 
—  Emotional  Aspects  of  Symbolism. 
Proper  Art  Environment. 
The  Artist  as  Poet. 
List  of  Pictures. 

IX.  JPersonal  Religious  Values  in  Art loi 

^  Soul  Culture. 

^The  Essence  of  ReUgion. 

Self-control. 
^  Courage. 

Divine  Contacts. 

List  of  Pictures. 

X.  Social  Religious  Values no 

The  Social  Gospel. 

Human  Need  and  Human  Sympathy. 

Examples. 

Cooperation  for  the  Common  Good. 

Posters  in  the  War. 

Raemaekers. 


CONTENTS  7 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XI.  Religion  in  Architecture 121 

Temple  Relics  the  World  Over. 

Church  Buildings  a  Record  of  Christian  History. 

The  Roman  Gift  to  Christianity. 

The  Byzantine  Development. 

The  Byzantine  Church  as  a  Manual  of  Religion. 

The  Romanesque  Church. 

Gothic. 

Varieties  of  Gothic. 

The  Renaissance  Church. 

XII.  The  Discovery  and  Use  of  Community  Resources.  .  .   137 

A  Community  Survey  of  Art. 

Church  Buildings. 

Pictures. 

Other  Public  Buildings. 

Homes. 

Persons. 

Blanks  for  a  Community  Survey  of  Religious  Art 145 

Picture  List 154 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Day  of  Judgment Frontispiece 

FOLLOWING 
PAGE 

Fra  Angelico:  Christ  as  Pilgrim 31 

Monastery  of  San  Marco,  Florence. 

Mosaic:  The  Parting  of  Abraham  and  Lot 35 

Church  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore,  Rome,  second 
century. 

Early  Christian  Sarcophagus 39 

Lateran  Museum,  Rome. 

The  Escape  from  Doubting  Castle 47 

Taken  from  Bunyan's  The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  illustrated 
by  the  brothers  Rhead,  by  permission  of  the  pub- 
lishers, The  Century  Company. 

Sir  Edw.  J.  Poynter:  Joseph  Presents  Jacob  to  Pharaoh.  .      61 

Lenepvue:  The  Vision  of  Joan  of  Arc 75 

The  Pantheon,  Paris. 

Unknown:  The  Church  Militant  and  Triumphant 83 

Spanish  Chapel,  Santa  Maria  Novella,  Florence. 

Hacker:  The  Annunciation 91 

Tate  Gallery,  London. 

Debat-Ponsan:  Christ  on  the  Mountain 103 

"Love  One  Another." 

Louis  Cabanes:  The  Crucified  Ones  (1919) 113 

Interior  of  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere, 
Rome 123 

Trinity  Church  (Episcopal) 139 

Newton  Center,  Massachusetts. 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

The  use  of  art  in  religious  education  is  not  a  luxury. 
It  is  a  plain,  everyday  necessity.  It  is  a  means  the  use 
of  which  makes  possible  a  larger  measure  of  desirable 
religious  growth  "with  the  least  waste  of  time  and  energy 
and  the  greatest  satisfaction  to  all  concerned."  In  the 
interest  of  economy  and  elSiciency  it  is  recognized  as  an 
indispensable  factor. 

The  nature  of  religion  is  such  that  it  cannot  be  taught 
by  the  use  of  methods  which  ignore  the  appeal  to  the 
emotions.  In  the  actual  process  of  teaching  religion  it  is 
hazardous  to  draw  any  line  of  distinction  between  subject 
matter  and  method.  Every  argument  in  favor  of  the 
project  method  of  teaching  this  subject  is  an  argument 
in  favor  of  using  pictorial  representations  of  experienced 
religion.  The  material  as  presented  must  appeal  to  the 
affective  states  of  consciousness.  While  learning  religion 
the  pupil  must  be  in  a  religious  attitude.  This  attitude 
is  most  easily,  naturally,  and  effectively  assumed  through 
unconscious  sympathy  with  the  central  figures  portrayed 
by  the  masters  of  religious  art.  It  is  because  the  pupils 
assume  appropriate  and  learningful  attitudes  through  its 
use  that  this  method  is  so  successful. 

The  appearance  of  Professor  Bailey's  book  marks  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  method  in  teaching  religion. 
This  fact  does  not  rest  upon  merely  his  strong  and  in- 
telligent advocacy  of  the  use  of  art  but,  rather,  upon  his 

9 


lo  EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

having  formulated  a  comprehensive  and  pedagogically 
sound  theory,  the  practical  implications  of  which  he  has 
clearly  pointed  out.  Pictures  and  statues  have  ever  been 
used.  Henceforth  they  will  be  used  intelligently.  Some 
pictures  that  have  been  used  widely  will  lose  their 
popularity  while  others  will  be  created  in  order  to  meet 
this  newly  appreciated  educational  need. 

Norman  E.  Richardson. 


I 


PREFACE 

In  order  to  get  full  value  out  of  this  book  one  needs 
to  have  access  to  a  great  variety  of  religious  pictures, 
many  more  than  it  would  be  practical  to  include  in  this 
volume.  The  best  collection  of  half-tone  reproductions 
of  works  of  art  of  all  kinds  is  undoubtedly  the  University 
Prints.  This  list  has  to  be  supplemented  as  far  as 
modem  painting  is  concerned,  particularly  in  the  field  of 
religious  illustrations  of  lesser  artistic  value. 

Following  are  the  addresses  of  the  chief  firms,  together 
with  the  key  letter  used  in  the  picture-list  of  this  book. 
Catalogues  are  usually  sent  on  request. 

U — University  Prints,  ii  Boyd  Street,  Newton, 
Massachusetts.  Catalogue  numbers  are 
printed  in  italic,  thus:  G481. 

B  —  George  O.  Brown  &  Co.,  Beverly,  Massachusetts. 

P  —  Perry  Pictures  Co.,  Maiden,  Massachusetts. 

UP — Union  Press  Series,  1816  Chestnut  Street,  Phila- 
delphia. 

For  colored  reproductions: 

Seeman  Prints  (at  about  forty  cents),  Rudolf 
Lesch,  Agent,  13  West  42nd  Street,  New  York. 
Medici  Prints.     The  Medici  Society,  Boylston 
Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Ts —  Tissot  Pictures.    New  York  Sunday  School  Com- 
mission, 73  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Reference  will  sometimes  be  made  to  books  where  re- 
productions may  be  found,  as  follows: 

II 


12  PREFACE 

Ba —  Bailey:  Art  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ  (122 
illustrations,  Pilgrim  Press,  1916). 

FF —  Fletcher  and  Fletcher:  A  History  of  Architecture 
(Batsford,  1905). 

A  — Reinach:  Apollo  (Scribners,  1907). 

R  — Raber:  Die  Bibel  in  der  Kunst  (100  reproduc- 
tions of  modern  masters) . 

L  —  The  Lenox  Collection  of  pictures  of  Christ. 
Public  Library,  New  York  City. 

S  —Sparrow:  The  Bible  in  Art.  (2  vols.)  O.T.  and 
N.T. 

T  —Temple:  The  Gospels  in  Art. 

The  author  has  arranged  with  the  L.  A.  Bigelow  Co., 
iiA  Bromfield  Street,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  to  supply 
free  of  charge  information  about  sizes,  styles  and  prices 
of  rehgious  pictures  for  framing.  Many  of  the  pictures 
mentioned  in  this  book  can  be  obtained  in  a  variety 
of  forms.  In  writing,  give  the  artist's  name,  the  title  of 
the  picture,  the  size  and  type  preferred. 

The  John  H.  Thurston  Co.,  50  Bromfield  Street, 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  carries  in  stock  lantern  slides 
from  all  the  University  Print  negatives,  and  all  of  the 
122  pictures  in  A.  E.  Bailey's  Art  Studies  in  the  Life  of 
Christ.  He  will  obtain  other  pictures  mentioned  in  this 
book  where  possible. 


CHAPTER  I 
ART  AS  THE  HANDMAID  OF  RELIGION 

Religion  is  man*s  need  for  friendship  struggling  for 
expression.  Art  is  man's  expression  striving  consciously 
for  beauty.  When  religion  finds  an  expression  that  is 
beautiful,  art  has  arrived.  Thus  stated — and  the  state- 
ments are  true  though  not  exhaustive — the  relation  of 
religion  to  art  is  seen  to  be  that  of  cause  and  effect. 
Because  man  is  rehgious  he  becomes  an  artist.  And  while 
it  is  not  true  to-day  as  it  once  was  that  all  art  is  religious, 
it  is  always  true  that  religion  creates  art.  Art  is  the 
eldest  daughter  and  most  constant  handmaid  of  religion. 

The  antiquity  of  religious  art. — The  connection  be- 
tween art  and  religion  is  as  old  as  man.  In  the  fierce 
struggle  for  existence,  when  nature  was  "red  in  tooth 
and  claw,"  men  felt  their  inability  to  cope  unaided 
with  the  mysterious  forces  of  the  earth  and  air,  with 
earthquake  and  lightning,  with  animals  that  were 
stronger  and  swifter  than  they.  They  therefore  invoked 
the  aid  of  supernatural  forces.  By  a  process  of  primitive 
thinking  they  evolved  the  notion  of  magic,  a  method  of 
control  by  which  the  spirits  that  live  in  the  ground  or 
the  water,  in  stones  and  trees  and  springs,  could  be  com- 
pelled to  serve  them. 

The  instrument  of  this  compulsion  was  art.  It  was 
control  of  spiritual  forces  through  imitations  of  the 
forms  those  forces  sometimes  assumed,  and  by  using 
over  these  forms  a  formula  or  word  of  power;  or  it  was 
by  performing  some  significant  act,  usually  with  rhythmic 
motions  accompanied  by  chanted  words.    These  acts, 

13 


14  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

words,  things,  manipulated  by  one  who  was  wise  in  such 
matters,  were  sure  to  bring  the  result  desired,  whether 
it  were  success  in  hunting,  bountiful  crops,  the  destruc- 
tion of  enemies,  the  cure  of  disease,  or  happy  life  after 
death.  This  is  almost  the  sum  total  of  primitive  religion. 
Art  is  its  outstanding  characteristic  and  instrument. 

The  function  of  art  in  Egypt. — While  there  is  rea- 
son to  suspect  that  the  rude  drawings  of  animals  in  the 
caves  of  preglacial  men  had  all  of  them  this  magic,  that 
is,  religious  use,  we  know  that  the  earhest  historic  art 
was  through  and  through  religious.  The  art  of  Egypt  is 
wholly  magical.  The  pyramids,  made  in  the  shape  of  a 
tongue  of  flame,  placed  the  Pharaoh  who  occupied  it — a 
son  of  Re — in  the  keeping  of  the  flaming  sun-god — en- 
shrined him  in  the  very  symbol  of  his  father. 

The  yards  of  painted  and  sculptured  scenes  on  the 
inner  walls  of  the  tomb  of  Ti  were  placed  there  not  for 
our  enjoyment,  but  to  insure  the  immortality  of  the  Ka 
of  Ti  by  an  unending  procession  of  servants.  They 
plowed  and  sowed,  irrigated  and  harvested,  bred  cattle 
and  slaughtered  them,  baked  bread,  brewed  beer,  picked 
lotus  flowers  and  brought  all  to  the  door  of  the  eternal 
dwelling-house  of  their  master. 

The  little  scarabs  that  travelers  bring  from  Egypt, 
beautiful  glazed  pottery  beetles  in  green  and  blue  and 
brown  with  delicate  carving  and  mysterious  symbols,  are 
all  magic:  they  place  the  name  or  the  formula  inscribed 
on  them  directly  in  the  keeping  of  the  god  Kheper,  who 
is  sure  to  "keep  that  which  is  committed  to  him  against 
that  day" — the  day  of  waking  in  the  other  world. 

The  vast  temples  of  Kamak  and  the  Ramesseum  were 
magic  houses  for  Ammon  and  the  soul  of  the  deified 
Ramses.  Even  the  statues  which  would  seem  to  us'  to 
be  useful  merely  for  adornment  or  for  a  memorial,  are 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  RELIGION  15 

steeped  in  religion:  they  faithfully  portray  the  deceased 
in  order  that  his  soul  may  still  have  a  home  if  time  and 
violence  should  destroy  the  body.  Egyptian  art  was 
altogether  a  device  to  compel  the  gods  to  serve  men.  It 
was  wholly  religious. 

Greek  art  begins  in  religion. — ^The  origin  of  drama 
in  the  service  of  Dionysius  is  well  known.  The  plastic 
arts  also  took  rise  in  the  worship  of  the  gods.  Art  gave 
to  the  sticks  and  stones  in  which  the  primitive  deities 
dwelt,  progressively  a  more  and  more  human  shape. 
Eyes  were  added  that  the  deity  might  more  easily  see 
the  worshiper  and  his  gifts,  ears  that  he  might  hear;  and 
when  legs  were  added  later  for  the  sake  of  perfectness, 
the  statues  were  sometimes  chained  to  their  pedestals 
lest  they  run  away!  The  sculptor's  aim  came  finally  to 
be  to  make  his  cult-statue  very  attractive  to  the  god,  a 
worthy  embodiment  of  the  deity;  and  in  this  endeavor 
the  character  of  the  god  came  to  be  more  and  more 
clearly  defined  in  the  artist's  mind  and  more  and  more 
perfectly  expressed  in  the  statue  by  face  and  attitude 
and  symbol;  until  at  last  Phidias  was  able  to  give  us 
those  marvelous  creations  in  which  the  fatherly  majesty 
of  Zeus  (the  Olympian  Zeus)  and  the  practical,  inspiring 
wisdom  and  good  will  of  Athena  (Athena  Parthenos) 
reached  their  perfect  expression. 

It  was  not  until  philosophy  in  the  fourth  century  be- 
fore Christ  destroyed  faith  in  the  old  gods  that  sculptors 
dared  to  take  liberties  with  their  subjects,  to  subordinate 
the  religious  to  the  humanly  beautiful,  and  at  last  to 
eliminate  the  religious  altogether.  Then  Greek  art  be- 
came pagan  and  ended  by  becoming  an  instrument  of 
vice  in  the  hands  of  Roman  sybarites.  Before  Praxiteles, 
Greek  art  was  wholly  or  predominantly  religious. 

Buddhist  art  as  religious  propaganda. — With  the 


i6  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

rise  of  Buddhistic  art  in  the  third  century  B.  C.  we  leave 
the  area  of  magic  and  enter  the  realm  of  symbolism. 
But  art  still  remains  wholly  the  servant  of  religion.  Pure 
Vedic  religion,  out  of  which  Buddhism  sprang,  refused 
to  represent  the  deities  in  human  form.  When,  therefore, 
Gautama  Sakyamuni  died  and  his  followers  sought  to 
perpetuate  his  memory  and  his  teachings,  they  adopted 
and  filled  with  new  meaning  some  of  the  most  ancient 
symbols  of  the  Vedic  faith,  besides  creating  new  ones. 

Thus  the  stupa  or  architectural  mound  in  which  the 
relics  of  the  master  were  enshrined  was  a  wonderful  as- 
semblage of  religious  suggestions.  (See  the  Stupa  or  Tope 
at  Sanchi.)  It  was  planned  on  the  basis  of  the  cosmic 
cross,  its  four  imitation  gates  facing  the  cardinal  points. 
Its  dome  was  in  form  an  inverted  blue  lotus,  symbol  of 
the  sky.  Its  reliquary  at  the  summit  of  the  dome  exalted 
for  men's  adoration  some  relic  of  the  master.  Above 
it  the  pyramided  Tee  represented  the  succession  of 
higher  spiritual  planes  leading  up  to  Nirvana.  Around 
it  the  three  bars  of  the  sculptured  rail  stood  for 
the  three  cardinal  facts  of  religion,  the  Buddha,  the 
Doctrine  and  the  Order.  The  monumental  gates  that 
gave  entrance  to  the  inclosure  spoke  to  all  men  in 
pictured  story  or  in  symbol,  of  the  founder  and  the  faith. 
There  one  could  read  the  wondrous  story  of  Gautama's 
incarnation,  of  his  illumination,  of  his  preaching  the  law, 
of  his  death  and  entrance  into  Para-Nirvana.  There 
one  might  see  his  footsteps  impressed  in  stone,  the  lotus 
flowers  that  sprang  up  under  his  tread,  the  Wheel  of  the 
Law  in  whose  irrevocable  turning  all  men  are  turned,  the 
vacant  chair  where  the  Teacher  once  sat,  the  Bo-tree 
under  whose  shadow  came  the  great  enlightenment,  the 
pictured  stupa,  the  umbrella,  the  faithful  horse,  the 
circle  and  crescent  and  the  countless  Bodhisattvas  who 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  RELIGION  17 

are  treading  the  eightfold  path  toward  Buddhahood.  It 
was  these  symbols  and  this  story  that  conquered  the 
hearts  of  men.  One  can  mark  the  triumphant  march  of 
Buddha  through  the  East  by  the  mileposts  of  its 
monuments,  every  monument  a  preacher  and  a  piean  of 
victory. 

How  art  became  Christian. — The  Christian  faith 
was  born  under  a  triple  repression.  Judaism,  that 
furnished  the  first  converts,  had  from  the  day  of  the 
second  commandment  been  hostile  to  all  plastic  or  pic- 
torial representation.  In  the  minds  of  Gentile  believers 
art  was  associated  with  the  paganism  and  immorality  of 
the  Greeks  and  was  therefore  taboo.  And  before  the 
new  religion  had  become  fully  conscious  of  itself,  Nero 
and  his  successors  made  confession  of  the  new  faith  a 
dangerous  matter. 

Small  wonder  that  Christianity  was  driven  to  other 
modes  of  expression.  The  most  that  a  Christian  could 
do  in  the  way  of  art  was  to  inscribe  the  sepulchre  of  his 
dead  with  some  mystic  sign  that  would  show  to  the 
brethren  that  a  brother  lay  there,  but  would  show  to  the 
world,  nothing.  In  the  catacombs  we  find  only  symbols, 
taken  for  the  most  part  from  heathen  sources  or  the 
world  of  things:  ^  a  fish,  a  grapevine,  a  shepherd  with  a 
lamb  on  his  shoulder,  an  Orpheus  going  down  to  Hades, 
a  Jonah  being  swallowed  by  a  whale — so  simple  and  so 
inartistic  were  the  beginnings  of  Christian  art. 

Then  as  Christianity  became  more  sure  of  itself  and 
came  out  from  underground,  it  seized  upon  the  Roman 
arts  of  fresco  and  mosaic  to  adorn  its  places  of  worship.^ 
Still  symbolic,  it  pictured  forth  its  faith  on  apse  and 
clerestory  wall :  the  Logos  appears  to  Moses  in  the  burn- 


'  See  "Catacombs"  in  the  index  for  illustrative  materiaJ. 
*  See  references  under  Chap.  XI. 


i8  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

ing  bush;  the  true  church  separates  from  Judaism  in  the 
person  of  Abraham  parting  from  Lot  and  finally  after 
Constantine  exorcises  forever  the  nightmare  of  persecu- 
tion, Christ  enthroned  is  emblazoned  in  sparkling  glass 
over  the  high  altar,  while  processions  of  apostles,  evan- 
geHsts,  martyrs,  angels,  types  and  anti-types  march 
boldly  before  the  gaze  of  the  worshiper. 

But  art  that  embodies  faith  may  also  fight  the  battles 
of  theology.  Mosaic  becomes  polemic,  fresco  waxes 
valiant  against  the  hosts  of  heresy.  Church  councils 
formulate  not  only  creeds  but  canons  of  art;  and  the  free, 
creating  spirit  that  should  have  emotionalized  and 
vivified  the  faith  became  the  bond  slave  of  orthodoxy. 
Patterns  were  stereotyped,  figures  and  faces  were  stand- 
ardized, subjects  were  prescribed,  symbols  were  com- 
manded. Yet  art  lived  through  the  indignity,  and  lived 
the  thrall  of  religion.  In  the  Dark  Ages  there  was  no 
art  but  reUgious  art. 

Christianity  the  saviour  of  art. — Because  Roman  art 
was  thus  linked  with  the  new  religion,  and  for  this  reason 
alone,  it  survived  the  deluge  of  the  Barbarian.  Alaric  and 
Attila  plundered  Rome,  law  and  order  died,  governments 
and  rich  patrons  of  art  ceased,  artists  and  artisans  be- 
came bandits  or  turned  to  the  humbler  tasks  of  digging 
and  cobbling.  Nature  "reeled  back  into  the  beast." 
Grass  grew  in  the  city  streets,  great  buildings  fell  to  ruin 
or  were  plundered  of  their  marbles  to  feed  the  lime-kilns 
of  their  barbarous  conquerors  or  became  quarries  to  build 
the  humble  hovels  of  the  poor.  Even  the  memory  of  some 
of  the  arts  perished,  as  perished  all  the  higher  expressions 
of  the  human  spirit,  literature  in  prose  and  verse,  drama, 
music. 

By  the  year  A.  D.  900,  in  spite  of  the  brief  attempt  of 
Charlemagne  to  rekindle  the  torch,  Europe  was  culturally 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  RELIGION  19 

nonexistent.  That  art  did  not  perish  utterly  from  the 
earth  was  due  entirely  to  Benedict  and  his  monks.  They 
not  only  redeemed  the  soil  and,  wherever  their  monas- 
teries took  root,  taught  the  peasants  the  arts  of  agricul- 
ture, but  they  rescued  from  extinction  all  the  finer  arts 
and  systematically  taught  them  to  brother  monks  and 
lay  members:  the  weaving  and  dyeing  of  cloth,  tailoring, 
embroidery;  the  tanning  of  skins,  making  of  vellum, 
hence  the  writing,  illuminating  and  binding  of  manu- 
scripts; glass-blowing  in  all  its  forms,  hence  the  wonderful 
windows  of  Chartres  and  York  minster;  masonry  in 
brick  and  stone, hence  the  glories  of  Beauvais  and  Amiens; 
bronze  casting  and  hammering,  work  in  gold  and  silver, 
ivory,  wood,  gems,  enameling  and  inlaying,  hence  the 
crucifixes  and  reliquaries,  the  robes  and  croziers  and 
miters;  sculpture  in  wood  and  stone,  together  with 
fresco  and  mosaic,  hence  the  saints  and  angels  and  kings 
of  Rheims,  and  the  dull  splendors  of  Saint  Mark's,  as 
well  as  the  dreams  and  glories  of  San  Marco  and  the 
Uffizi. 

The  art  of  the  twentieth  century  may  flaunt  its  prodi- 
gal beauty  in  the  face  of  religion  and  try  to  disown  the 
past,  but  history  will  never  allow  us  to  forget  that 
religion  was  not  only  her  creator  but  her  preserver. 

The  art  of  Europe.— When  the  night  of  the  bar- 
barian changed  to  dawn,  when  the  human  spirit  at  last 
awoke  and  began  once  more  to  create  a  spiritual  world, 
it  found  the  Christian  Pope  sitting  on  the  throne  of  the 
Oesars.  How  the  church  became  the  inspirer  and  guide 
of  architecture  will  be  told  in  another  place.  (Chapter 
XL)  And  when  men  began  to  practice  again  the  classic 
art  of  painting  and  to  improve  its  technique,  they  found 
in  the  Church  their  great  and  only  patron.  Painting 
became  the  peculiar  daughter  of  the  Faith,  born  again  in 


20  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

the  bosom  of  the  Church  and  dedicated  wholly  to  her 
glorification. 

The  long  line  of  Italian  masters — Cimabue,  Giotto, 
Taddeo  Gaddi,  Simone  Martini,  Orcagna,  Gentile  da 
Fabriano,  Fra  Angelico,  Masolino,  Masaccio  and  the 
rest  marched  in  the  Church's  train.  All,  even  to  the  full 
tide  of  the  Renaissance,  to  Da  Vinci,  Raphael  and 
Michelangelo,  were  servants  of  this  great  Patron. 
Whether  they  painted  for  love  of  money,  for  love  of  fame, 
or  for  love  of  God,  their  work  at  first  was  wholly  religious 
in  theme  and  later  it  was  usually  religious.  North  of  the 
Alps  it  was  the  same — the  Van  Eycks,  van  der  Weyden, 
Justus  of  Ghent,  van  der  Goes,  Memling,  or  the  German 
Wohlgemut,  Schongauer,  and  Dtirer — these  all  painted 
the  Faith,  and  the  Church  used  their  creations  in  prop- 
agating, nurturing,  purifying  and  glorifying  its  own 
person.  Blot  out  religious  pictures  from  the  galleries  and 
churches  of  Europe,  and  what  have  we  left? 

Present-day  art  and  religion. — As  life  becomes  com- 
plex, functions  become  differentiated.  Once  religion 
permeated  all  living — as  it  still  does  among  primitive 
peoples;  but  now  for  the  most  part  there  is  the  realm  of 
the  religious  and  the  realm  of  the  secular.  Once  art 
expressed  only  religion  and  religion  functioned  only  in 
the  arts  of  ritual  and  the  cults;  now  art  is  full  grown 
and  has  cast  off  its  leading  strings;  it  follows  its  own 
desires  into  many  realms. 

But  art  may  still  be  the  handmaid  of  religion,  and 
often  is.  After  the  reaction  against  eighteenth-century 
rationalism  there  came  to  modern  men  a  fresh  spirit  of 
romanticism,  of  mysticism,  a  fresh  belief  in  the  validity 
of  the  emotions  to  interpret  truth,  a  fresh  attempt  to 
express  in  forms  of  beauty  the  essential  truths  of  religion. 

In  the  Protestant  North  and  West  there  grew  a  feeling 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  RELIGION  21 

that  the  thing  that  mattered  in  religion  was  not  creed  but 
spirit,  not  theology  but  life,  not  the  doctrine  of  the  in- 
carnation but  the  living  Christ-child,  not  the  dogma  of 
the  Atonement  but  the  atoning  Christ  reconciling  the 
world  to  God  by  his  sacrificial  life  and  love.  When, 
therefore,  modern  art  turns  from  its  landscapes  and  its 
nudes  and  its  experiments  in  light  and  composition  to 
rehgious  themes,  it  discards  for  the  most  part  conven- 
tional ecclesiastical  subjects  and  paints  the  spirit  of  the 
living  Christ,  either  in  its  historic  setting  with  the  faith- 
fulness of  scientific  realism,  or  in  some  new  and  spiritually 
moving  allegory  where  the  historic  Christ  and  the  eternal 
Soul  and  the  changing  social  order  are  all  fused  and 
emotionalized  and  reinterpreted.  When  the  governments 
of  the  world  during  the  Great  War  turned  to  art  for  help, 
art  responded  with  creations  in  which  at  times  one  could 
scarcely  distinguish  patriotism  from  religion.  Christ  came 
to  Flanders  Fields  as  he  once  went  to  Calvary,^  and  our 
hearts  burned  within  us  as  we  realized  afresh  the  eternal 
presence  of  the  Spirit  in  the  painful  evolution  of  hu- 
manity. Art  is  still  a  potent  handmaid  to  faith.  Religion 
still  needs  art.  What  God  once  joined  together  man 
should  not  put  asunder. 

References 
Prehistoric.    Breasted:  Ancient  Times. 


Egypt. 

Masero : 

Art  in  Egypt. 

Guide  to  the  Cairo  Museum  (Eng. 
Edition). 

Budge: 

Egyptian  Magic. 

Davies : 

"Anno  Domi: 

Tomb  of  Nacht  at  Thebes. 

>  See  DoUman: 

ni.*! 

22  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

India.  Foucher:  The  Beginning  of  Buddhistic  Art 

(1917)- 
Havell :  Ancient  and  Medieval  Architecture 

in  India  (1915). 
Coomaraswamy :  Arts  and  Crafts  in  India 
and  Ceylon  (19 13). 

Greece.  E.  O.  Gardner:  Religion  and  Art  in  Ancient 

Greece. 

Christianity.  J.  H.  Parker:  Photographs  of  Early  Chris- 
tian Art  (1879). 
Mrs.  Anne  Jameson :  History  of  our  Lord 

in  Art  (1864). 
L.  von  Sybel:  Christliche    An  tike     (1906). 
Vol.  2,  end,  fine  plates  of 
Christian  sarcophagi. 
Reinach:  Apollo  (1907). 

Teaching  Material 

The  antiquity  of  religious  art. — Look  up  some  work 
on  amulets.  Make  tracings  of  a  few  of  the  chief  amulets 
found  among  primitive  peoples  and  list  their  use.  Why 
these  particular  objects?  Visit,  if  possible,  a  museum 
with  the  purpose  of  discovering  how  much  of  primitive 
art  had  a  religious  significance. 

The  function  of  art  in  Egypt. — Study  the  persons 
and  objects  on  the  walls  of  the  Tomb  of  Ti  (Saqqara, 
V  Dyn)  to  identify  the  purpose  of  each  action  (University 
Prints). 

Make  tracings  of  a  few  typical  scarabs  and  their  in- 
scriptions. Newberry:  Scarabs. 

Make  tracings  of  the  decoration  on  the  front  of  a 
mummy,  and  find,  if  possible,  what  the  figures  mean. 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  RELIGION  23 

Greek  art  begins  in  religion. — Make  a  comparative 
study  of  Athena  Parthenos,  University  Prints  A  97 ;  the 
Olympian  Zeus,  A  487;  and  Hermes  of  Praxiteles,  A  190. 

What  ideals  have  the  artists  incarnated  in  their  repre- 
sentations of  God?  Powers:  The  Message  of  Greek  Art, 
pp.  130,  186-193,  218-223. 

Buddhist  art  as  religious  propaganda. — Look  up 
the  structure  and  meaning  of  a  "Stupa"  or  "tope." 
Havell:  Ancient  and  Mediceval  Architecture  of  India. 

Make  tracings  of  a  few  sculptures  that  embody  Bud- 
dhistic beliefs  or  are  symbols  of  their  Saviour,  and  add 
brief  descriptive  comment.  Foucher:  The  Beginnings  of 
Buddhist  Art.   Plates  i  and  2,  and  pages  29-110. 

Collect  pictures  of  the  Buddhist  remains  of  Sanchi,  and 
Barhut  (India),  Anuradhapura  (Ceylon)  and  Borobodur 
(Java). 

How  art  became  Christian. — Make  a  list  and  trac- 
ings where  possible  of  early  Christian  symbols  from  the 
catacombs. 

Give  full  interpretation  of  one  or  more  mosaic  repre- 
sentations from  early  churches,  for  example,  Santa  M. 
Maggiore.  See  Richter  and  Taylor:  The  Golden  Age  of 
Classic  Christian  Art.  Make  tracing  of  one  face,  and 
color  with  crayon  or  water-color. 

Make  tracing  of  one  tribune  arch  or  apse  decoration  to 
show  the  stereotyped  Byzantine  form,  for  example, 
University  Prints,  B-31,  B-32,  B-33,  B-35. 

Christianity  the  saviour  of  art. — Report  on  the 
Monastery  of  Saint  Gall,  Switzerland. 

The  art  of  Europe.— Select  from  the  University 
Prints  series  one  masterpiece  of  the  religious  art  of  the 
Renaissance  (1300- 1600)  from  each  country  of  Europe. 
At  whose  request  and  for  what  purpose  was  each  of  these 
pictures  painted? 


24  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Present-day  art  and  religion. — Select  from  any 
source  a  nineteenth-century  masterpiece  of  religious  art 
from  each  country  of  Christendom.  At  whose  request 
and  for  what  purpose  were  these  pictures  painted?  Com- 
pare the  themes  with  those  of  the  preceding  selection. 
How  has  the  emphasis  in  religion  shifted? 


THE  HANDMAID  OF  RELIGION  25 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  I 
The  Day  of  Judgment — Frontispiece 

This  wonderful  picture  is  taken  from  the  Papyrus  of  Hunefer  in 
the  British  Museum,  an  illustrated  edition  of  the  Book  of  the  Dead 
dating  about  1500  B.C.  It  records  in  dramatic  fashion  the  scene  in 
the  judgment  hall  of  Osiris  when  the  deceased  is  summoned  to  give 
an  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  (Matt.  25.  31-32;  Rom.  2. 
2,  3,  5;  Rom.  14.  10;  2  Cor.  5.  10;  Heb.  9.  27;  Rev.  20.  11-13). 

On  the  left  Anubis,  the  jackal-headed  mortuary  god,  leads  Hunefer 
into  the  hall.  The  trepidation  of  his  heart  is  pictured  in  the  upper 
register  where  he  kneels  and  makes  supplication  to  the  gods  (Neh. 
13.  14).  Before  these  witnesses  Hunefer  makes  his  declaration  of 
innocence,  mentioning  by  name  the  forty-two  sins  of  which  he  is  not 
guilty  (Job  31.  5-40).  These  include  murder,  stealing,  lying,  deceit, 
false  witness,  slander,  eaves-dropping,  sexual  impurity,  adultery, 
trespass  against  the  gods  or  the  dead,  as  in  blasphemy  or  stealing 
mortuary  offerings.^ 

Before  Hunefer  now  rise  the  great  balances  (Job  31.  5-6)  that 
are  to  test  his  soul.  They  are  surmounted  by  the  head  and  symbol 
of  the  goddess  of  Truth.  Anubis  takes  charge  of  the  weighing.  In 
one  pan  of  the  scales  he  places  the  heart  of  Hunefer,  in  shape  of  a 
tiny  vase  which  is  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  for  heart;  in  the  other 
is  a  feather,  the  symbol  and  hieroglyph  for  truth  or  righteousness 
(Psa.  96.  13).  The  moment  is  tense.  In  some  papyri,  like  the  papy- 
rus of  Ani,  the  deceased  leans  forward  anxiously  and  recites  this 
prayer:  "O  my  heart,  .  .  .  rise  not  up  against  me  as  a  witness. 
.  .  .  Be  not  hostile  to  me  before  the  master  of  the  balances. 
.  .  .  Let  not  my  name  be  of  evil  odor  with  the  court;  speak  no 
lie  against  me  in  the  presence  of  the  god"  (King  Richard  III,  v.  iii, 
194-196). 

To  add  terror  to  the  moment,  the  dread  Eater  of  the  Dead  crouches 
near,  with  head  of  a  crocodile,  forequarters  of  a  lion,  and  hind- 
quarters of  a  hippopotamus — an  Egyptian  Lucifer  whose  function  is 
to  devour  the  unjust  soul  (Matt.  25.  41;  see  also  Dante's  Lucifer, 
Inf.,  xxxiv.  37-67).  Behind  the  scales  stands  Thoth,  the  recording 
angel,  with  tablet  and  stylus  to  record  the  verdict.  "Hear  ye  this 
word  in  truth.  I  have  judged  the  heart  of  Osiris  Ani.  His  soul 
stands  as  a  witness  concerning  him,  his  character  is  just  by  the 
great  balances.  Nb  sin  of  his  has  been  found."  Then  the  gods  of 
the  judgment  reply,  "How  good  it  is,  this  that  comes  forth  from  thy 
just  mouth.  Osiris  Ani  the  justified  witnesses.  There  is  no  sin  of 
his,  there  is  no  evil  of  his  with  us.  The  Devouress  shall  not  be  given 
power  over  him.  Let  there  be  given  him  the  bread  that  cometh 
forth  before  Osiris,  the  domain  that  abideth  in  the  field  of  offerings, 
like  the  followers  of  Horus"  (Rev.  21.  6). 

1  The  contrary  virtues  were  often  displayed  on  tombstones:  "I  gave  bread  to  the 
hungry,  water  to  the  thirsty,  clothing  to  the  naked,  and  a  ferryboat  to  the  boat- 
less.  ...  I  was  father  to  the  orphan,  husband  to  the  widow,  and  a  shelter  to  the 
shelterless."     (Matt.  12.  36;  i  Pet.  4-  Si  Matt.  35.  34-36;  James  i.  37.) 


26  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Being  justified,  therefore,  Hunefer  is  led  forward  by  Horus,  the 
son  of  Osiris,  who  introduces  him  to  Osiris  (Matt.  lo.  32;  Rom.  8. 
31-34),  saying:  "I  bring  thee  Osiris  Hunefer.  His  righteous  heart 
comes  forth  from  the  balances  and  he  has  no  sin  in  the  sight  of  any 
god  or  goddess.  .  .  •  Let  there  be  given  him  the  bread  and 
beer  that  cometh  forth  before  Osiris"  (Rev.  3.  5,  21;  Rev.  2.  7). 
Hunefer  makes  declaration  of  his  innocence,  presents  a  table  of 
offerings,  and  is  received  into  the  kingdom  of  Osiris  (Matt.  25.  34). 

The  dwelling-place  of  Osiris  is  a  shrine  of  fire  guarded  by  a  cornice 
of  serpents.  The  throne  is  set  by  the  stream  in  the  other  world 
(Rev.  22.  i)  out  of  which  grows  a  huge  lotus  flower  (Rev.  22.  2) 
bearing  the  four  children  of  Horus.  Behind  him  stand  the  two 
goddesses  Isis  and  Nephthys,  sisters  of  Osiris,  who  here  assist  him 
as  they  did  at  the  time  of  his  resurrection.  Before  the  face  of  Osiris 
is  the  Horus  Eye — the  eye  that  Horus  sacrificed  in  battle  with  the 
enemies  of  his  father  Osiris.  It  became  for  the  Egyptians  the  symbol 
of  all  sacrifice,  "the  commonest  and  most  revered  symbol  known  to 
Egyptian  religion."  It  will  be  interesting  to  compare  all  this  imagery 
with  that  in  Rev.  i.  13-18;  Rev.  4;  Rev.  7.  13-17.^ 

According  to  this  picture,  what  truths  about  morality  were  in 
vogue  fifteen  hundred  years  before  Christ — What  entitles  one  to 
eternal  life?  Who  sets  the  standards?  Who  judges?  Which  of  the 
sins  mentioned  in  Hunefer's  declaration  of  innocence  are  no  longer 
regarded  as  sin?  What  assistance  is  given  man  in  his  moral  struggle? 
Was  it  possible  for  man  unassisted  to  win  salvation?  What  rewards 
and  punishments  are  promised?  Does  the  conception  of  the  De- 
vourer  of  Hearts  imply  the  annihilation  of  the  wicked?  In  what 
respects  if  any  does  Christian  teaching  differ  from  all  this?  Is  salva- 
tion possible  without  struggle — by  accepting  a  ready-made  gift? 

Unfortunately,  the  moral  development  which  these  ideas  de- 
manded was  checked  in  time  by  the  priests,  who  claimed  the  power 
to  compel  the  gods  by  Magic  to  render  a  favorable  verdict,  and  the 
Book  of  the  Dead  became  finally  "a  magical  agency  for  securing 
moral  vindication  in  the  hereafter  irrespective  of  character."  To 
what  extent  are  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  doctrines  of  baptism  and 
extreme  unction  parallel  beliefs? 

State  to  yourself  clearly  what  is  meant  in  this  twentieth  century 
by  the  "Judgment,"  and  how  a  favorable  verdict  may  be  obtained. 

1  The  writer  is  indebted,  and  the  reader  is  referred,  to  J.  H.  Breasted:  Develop- 
ment of  Religion  and  Thought  in  Ancient  Egypt,  Scribner,  1912,  and  A  History  of 
Egypt,  Scribner,  191 2. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  FUNCTION  OF  RELIGIOUS  ART 

In  the  last  chapter  we  spoke  of  the  relation  of  art  to 
religion;  in  this  we  speak  of  the  relation  of  the  artist  to 
his  pubUc. 

The  artist  as  genius. — In  the  first  place  it  is  well 
to  observe  that  an  artist  is  generally  an  unusual  person. 
He  is  a  man  of  especially  sensitive  organization,  a  man 
whose  emotions  are  more  readily  excited  and  more 
strongly,  than  those  of  the  ordinary  workaday  person; 
one  also  whose  intellect  is  stronger,  who  sees  more  things 
and  who  sees  more  meanings  in  things  than  the  average 
person.  He  is  a  man  frequently  of  philosophic  and 
poetic  temperament,  one  who  loves  great  generalizations 
and  sees  in  particulars  the  operation  of  a  cosmic  law. 
It  is  legitimate  to  suppose,  therefore,  that  when  an  artist 
works  for  a  year  or  for  a  number  of  years  on  a  great  paint- 
ing he  has  something  definite  to  impart,  some  idea  or 
some  emotion  which  he  will  not  willingly  let  die.  It  is 
our  task  to  find  out  just  what  such  a  creative  genius  can 
do  for  us,  in  what  respect  his  service  to  art  and  to  life 
is  vital  and  just  how  we  can  appreciate  him  and  his 
message. 

The  artist  as  visualizer. — The  artist  first  of  all  sees. 
This  means  that  his  quick  eye  can  take  in  the  details  of 
an  experience  in  vivid  and  definite  fashion,  exactly. 
When  in  his  studio  he  seeks  to  recall  that  experience  the 
imagery  that  arises  in  his  mind  is  concrete  and  clean-cut. 
That  is  why  he  can  draw  and  paint  if  necessary  without 
the  presence  of  the  model. 

27 


28  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

With  us,  however,  it  is  different.  We  see  partially  and 
recall  imperfectly.  Our  images  are  not  sharp  and  clearly 
defined.  Recollection  with  us  is  a  procession  of  misty 
figures  that  readily  slip  into  one  another,  that  fade  be- 
fore we  can  scrutinize  them.  This  is  particularly  true  of 
the  imagery  that  arises  when  we  read.  Suppose,  for 
example,  one  heard  in  church  the  story  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion to  Mary.  What  images  would  float  before  the  mind? 
Could  we  see  Mary  in  her  home,  see  her  attitude,  her 
facial  expression,  read  her  thought  and  her  emotion? 
Could  we  see  the  angel?  Would  he  have  wings  or  not? 
Would  he  stand  or  sit  or  fly?  Very  likely,  unless  our 
attention  were  called  to  it,  we  would  think  that  we  had 
had  no  imagery. 

Not  so  with  the  artist.  He  sees  one  thing  and  sees  it 
definitely,  and  when  he  once  puts  his  imagery  upon 
canvas  it  becomes  a  servant  to  all  men.  They  can  now 
readily  visualize  the  Annunciation  because  he  has  pic- 
tured it  for  them.  When  we  hear  read  the  story  of  Jesus 
in  the  Temple  at  twelve  years  of  age  probably  nine  people 
out  of  ten  see  Hofmann's  picture.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say,  therefore,  with  Berenson  that  art  is  a  visualization 
of  the  imagery  of  great  minds. 

The  artist  as  intellectual  interpreter. — If  an  artist 
is  something  more  than  a  painter,  if  he  is  a  true  seer,  he 
sees  into  the  meaning  of  experience.  He  sees  a  given 
incident  as  the  outcome  of  forces  which  may  have  been 
operating  for  many  years.  He  sees  it  as  the  dynamic  of 
forces  that  are  destined  to  shape  the  world's  history. 
This  insight  gives  a  value  to  his  work  which  is  greater 
than  its  power  to  sharpen  the  definition  of  our  imagery. 
It  interprets  history  and  life  for  us.  It  gives  us  the  grand 
view,  the  vast  generalization;  it  emphasizes  values. 

Take,  for  example,  Hohnan  Hunt's  "Finding  of  Christ 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  RELIGIOUS  ART      29 

in  the  Temple."^  From  one  point  of  view  this  is  a  mere 
incident  in  the  life  of  the  boy  Jesus,  significant  chiefly 
because  it  tells  of  the  early  awakening  of  his  religious 
consciousness.  But  Hunt  has  made  it  mean  something 
more.  He  has  pictured  the  elaborate  Temple,  the  embodi- 
ment of  a  nation's  pride,  the  home  of  a  nation's  ritual. 
He  has  pictured  the  doctors  with  their  wealth  and  luxury 
and  pride  of  learning  and  bigotry  and  blindness.  He  has 
put  into  the  forefront  the  roll  of  the  law,  which  is  the 
Alpha  and  Omega  of  their  faith,  and  he  has  put  on  the 
other  side  the  bUnd  beggar  with  outstretched  hand, 
symbol  of  the  needy  world  which  they  will  not  lift  so 
much  as  a  finger  to  save.  Between  these  he  has  put  the 
boy  Christ  with  the  Hght  of  dawning  religion  in  his  face, 
and  he  has  showed  us  that  it  is  this  Boy  with  his  belief 
in  the  indwelling  Father  that  is  to  overthrow  the  proud 
ritualism  of  the  past  and  create  the  religion  of  love  and 
service  of  the  future. 

In  many  another  picture  this  will  be  found  true.    The 
artist  has  thought  for  us  as  well  as  seen  for  us;  he  has 
Mfted  a  curtain  and  showed  us  vistas  of  history  and  life,  ^ 
and  by  so  doing  has  shed  meaning  upon  our  own  age  and 
upon  our  personal  problems. 

The  artist  as  emotionalizer. — ^Artists  not  only 
see  and  understand;  they  feel.  Indeed,  feeling  seems  to 
be  the  mainspring  out  of  which  art  flows.  Ask  any  painter 
why  he  paints  and  he  will  tell  you  that  he  just  has  to. 
There  is  an  inner  urge  that  arises  from  his  emotional 
reaction  to  experience.  He  feels  the  beauty  of  the  morn- 
ing shadows  and  his  heart  will  not  rest  until  he  has 
captured  that  beauty  and  made  it  available  for  all  men. 
He  feels  the  dramatic  intensity  of  some  movement  in 
history  or  story  and  he  must  forthwith  put  it  upon 

» Pot  full  interpretation  see  A.  E.  Bailey:  Gospel  in  Art,  Introduction. 


30  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

canvas  so  that  we  may  feel  it.  And  just  here  is  a  very 
wonderful  thing,  that  an  artist  can  reproduce  in  us,  how- 
ever faintly,  the  emotions  which  he  himself  has  had; 
that  by  a  mixture  of  pigments  or  a  combination  of  lines 
he  can  make  another  heart  vibrate  as  his  own  has  done 
and  feel  the  thrill  of  beauty  or  of  joy  or  of  dramatic 
passion,  of  sympathy,  of  hate,  of  love.  That  he  has 
succeeded  in  doing  this  no  one  can  doubt  for  a  moment 
who  has  stood  in  the  presence  of  a  great  masterpiece. 
Whoever  can  forget  his  first  view  of  the  Taj  Mahal  or 
the  long  vistas  of  Cologne  Cathedral,  his  first  wonder  at 
the  ethereal  beauty  of  Fra  AngeHco  or  the  full-flood 
glories  of  the  great  colorists  of  the  Renaissance.  All  of 
these  masterpieces  have  primarily  an  emotional  value 
whether  or  not  they  convey  to  the  intellect  any  definite 
message,  and  they  always  will  have  such  a  value  as  long 
as  the  human  heart  is  keyed  to  beauty. 

The  artist  as  revealer  of  spiritual  values. — If  the 
proper  study  of  mankind  is  man,  art  does  well  to  concern 
itself  with  the  deep  things  of  man^s  spirit.  What  gives 
value  to  life  is  not  riches  nor  power  nor  position,  but 
transcendental  things  that  cannot  be  seen  or  measured 
or  valued  in  the  market.  What  would  life  be  without 
love  or  faith  or  heroism?  So  when  we  look  for  values  in 
art  we  must  certainly  not  overlook  the  greatest  values. 
We  will  find  that  as  we  ponder  upon  life  and  go  deeply 
into  its  meaning  some  artist  has  gone  there  before  us  and 
can  meet  us  with  his  own  understanding  and  evaluation. 

There  is  no  finer  study  of  the  life  of  Christ  than  that 
which  the  great  artists  have  given  us.  From  Verrocchio's 
"Baptism"  to  Michelangelo's  "Last  Judgment"  they 
have  revealed  to  us  a  character  more  wonderful  than  any 
we  have  personally  known,  clothed  indeed  with  the  frail 
garb  of  humanity,  but  illuminated  with  the  light  of 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  RELIGIOUS  ART       31 

heaven.  One  cannot  look  into  the  eyes  of  Cornicelius' 
"Christ"  without  perceiving  at  once  the  true  spiritual 
nature  of  his  temptation  and  ours;  or  Zimmermann's 
''Christ  and  the  Fishermen"  without  feeling  the  gracious 
patience  of  the  Master  teacher;  or  Keller's  "Daughter 
of  Jairus"  without  realizing  what  love  incarnate  must  do; 
or  Era  Angelico's  "Christ  as  Pilgrim"  without  realizing 
the  mystic  other-worldliness  of  the  religion  of  the  Middle 
Ages. 

These  and  countless  other  spiritual  values  become  real  ]  I 
to  us  and  emotionally  powerful  within  us  as  we  study  the  N^ 
revelations' of  life  which  the  Masters  have  left  us,  and  as  \ 
we  study  and  feel,  spiritual  things  become  to  us  more^ 
real,  more  to  be  desired  than  fine  gold.    Seeing  leads  to 
feeling,  to  loving,  to  aspiring;  and  if  we  are  still  spiritually 
sensitive  to  higher  living,  the  artist  becomes  to  us  both 
prophet  and  priest  and  his  work  becomes  a  sacrament. 

The  artist  as  ideal  builder. — If  all  these  considera- 
tions are  so,  the  artist  may  become  for  us  a  builder  of 
ideals.  He^^ds  us  blind  and  he  leaves^  us_.seeing.  He  J^ 
findsjisdull  and  he  gives  us  light.  He  finds  us  apathetic 
and  he  uncovers  the  depths  of  feeling.  He  finds  us  think- 
ing that  the  outside  of  hfe  is  all  there  is  to  it  and  he 
leaves  us  with  a  certainty  that  the  unseen  and  eternal 
are  the  only  realities. 

And  he  has  done  this  largely  by  suggestion.  What  he 
has  portrayed  is  but  a  hint,  but  our  quickened  soul  acting 
upon  the  definite  suggestion  of  a  single  incident  has 
flashed  back  to  us  glimpses  of  the  infinite.  He  has  given 
us  but  a  single  phase,  but  memory  enables  us  to  com- 
bine all  phases  into  a  whole,  an  imagined  whole,  an 
idealized  whole,  radiant  with  the  Light  that  never  was 
on  sea  or  land,  and  yet  in  our  better  moments  seen  as 
entirely  possible  for  us  to  attain.    It  is  this  ideal  of  life, 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  II 
Fra  Angelica:  Christ  as  Pilgrim 

Monastery  of  San  Marco,  Florence 

On  the  left,  two  Dominican  monks  come  out  from  their  monastery 
to  greet  a  guest.  The  guest  is  Christ,  clad  in  shirt  of  hair  and  carry- 
ing a  pilgrim's  staff.  Note  that  the  staff  and  the  hands  form  a  cross. 
What  Scripture  warrant  for  this  picture  has  Fra  Angelico?  What 
does  the  hair  shirt  signify?  What  qualities  in  Jesus  are  suggested  by 
the  long  strands  of  wavy  hair  and  the  part  in  the  middle?  At  whom 
or  what  is  Christ  looking?  Does  he  seem  to  be  a  purposeful  man? 
Think  of  various  occupations  and  professions  of  this  twentieth  cen- 
tury: into  which  of  these  would  this  Jesus  fit?  Is  this  Jesus  capable 
of  running  an  "Interchurch  World  Drive"  or  formulating  principles 
for  a  "Disarmament  Conference"?  What  aspect  of  religion  does  he 
exemplify?  Is  it  a  valuable  aspect?  Does  Christianity  present  any 
other  aspects?  Why  should  Fra  Angelico  present  this  particular  one? 
If  you  were  to  paint  a  picture  of  Christian  hospitality,  what  would 
you  put  in  it?  If  you  were  to  paint  a  face  of  Christ,  what  quality 
would  you  emphasize? 


32  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

formed  out  of  fragmentary  visions  and  glimpses  that  art 
has  given,  that  beckons  us  on  to  nobler  living  and  makes 
us  feel  that  the  pursuit  of  spirituality,  the  achievement 
of  the  infinite  and  the  impossible  is  precisely  the  vocation 
to  which  God  has  called  us. 

**0  young  Mariner, 
Down  to  the  haven, 
Call  your  companions, 
Launch  your  vessel 
And  crowd  your  canvas 
And,  ere  it  vanishes 
Over  the  margin, 
After  it,  follow  it, 
Follow  the  Gleam." 

Teaching  Material 

The  artist  as  genius. — For  the  sake  of  wondering  at 
the  genius  of  some  artists  read  brief  biographies  of 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Michelangelo,  Raphael,  or  Rubens 
in  the  "Masters  of  Art"  series  (Bates  and  Guild,  Boston). 

The  artist  as  visualizer. — Collect  as  many  pictures 
of  the  Annunciation  as  convenient  and  examine  them  for 
the  amount  of  definitely  visualized  detail  they  contain. 
Which  artists  excel  in  quantity  and  minuteness?  What 
details  would  you  include,  and  what  postures  and  facial 
expressions  would  you  give,  if  you  were  to  paint  "The 
Return  of  the  Prodigal"? 

The  artist  as  intellectual  interpreter. — Discover  the 
artist's  intellectual  message  in  one  or  more  of  the  fol- 
lowing: Reference  is  to  A.  E.  Bailey:  Art  Studies  in  the 
Life  of  Christ. 

Edwin  Long:  "Anno  Domini,"  p.  60. 
Burne- Jones:  "Star  of  Bethlehem,"  p.  57. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  RELIGIOUS  ART      33 

Holman  Hunt:  "Shadow  of  the  Cross,"  p.  66. 

"   :  "Light  of  the  World,"  p.  90. 
Bloch:  "Come  unto  Me,"  p.  82. 
Fra  AngeHco:  "The  Transfiguration,"  p.  109. 

"  "      :  "The  Crucifixion,"  p.  153. 

Flandrin:  "Christ  Weeping  over  the  City,"  p.  124. 

The  artist  as  emotionalizer. — Recall  and  write  down 
your  feelings  when  first  you  saw  some  great  work  of  art. 

Have  the  feelings  changed  in  intensity  or  character, 
through  subsequent  visits,  and  in  what  respect?  Name 
some  of  the  qualities  found  in  great  sculpture,  painting 
or  architecture,  that  always  produce  an  emotional  re- 
action.  Are  any  of  these  emotions  religious? 

The  artist  as  revealer  of  spiritual  values. — Select 
one  or  two  favorite  pictures  from  the  life  of  Christ,  and 
write  down  the  spiritual  quaUties  therein  expressed.  If 
you  were  to  paint  these  scenes,  what  other  values  would 
you  try  to  bring  out? 

The  artist  as  ideal  builder. — In  what  respect,  if 
any,  have  your  ideals  been  elevated  by  a  work  of  art? 

Have  you  ever  received  a  definite  impulse  to  higher 
living  from  such  a  source? 

Additional  Reading 

A.  E.  Bailey:  The  Gospel  in  Art  (Pilgrim  Press,  1915). 
Read  the  exposition  of  half  a  dozen  favorite  pictures. 
How  much  does  the  exposition  add  to  your  appreciation, 
detract  from  it,  or  differ  from  your  own  ideas? 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  LANGUAGE  OF  ART 

Art,  as  previously  hinted,  is  man's  self-expression 
striving  after  beauty  of  form.  Naturally,  the  aim  of  ex- 
pression is  to  make  one's  inner  state  known  to  another. 
A  work  of  art  is  a  message  from  the  artist  to  the  world, 
his  attempt  to  say  something  so  beautifully  and  there- 
fore so  compellingly  that  all  men  will  listen,  and,  having 
listened,  will  feel  and  understand. 

Art  speaks. — ^Whatever  else  art  is,  then,  it  is  certainly 
a  kind  of  language.  It  is  the  means  by  which  the  thought 
and  the  emotion  of  a  creative  personality  are  conveyed 
to  our  spirits  or  revive  in  us  a  livelier  consciousness  of 
spiritual  qualities  and  relationships. 

Tolstoy  is  of  the  opinion  that  art  is  not  great  unless  it 
conveys  its  meaning  at  once  and  unerringly  to  the 
common  man.  The  greatest  art  does  convey  some  mes- 
sage to  such  a  one,  but  the  message  of  art  is  sometimes 
too  intricate  or  too  deep  for  immediate  comprehension 
not  only  by  the  common  man  but  by  persons  of  greater 
learning  and  insight.  Some  great  pictures  are  very 
difficult  to  understand.  They  need  a  cicerone^  or  at  least 
they  need  some  knowledge  of  the  technical  language  in 
which  the  artist  speaks.  In  this  way  only  can  the  mind 
be  sure  to  grasp  the  artist's  idea  in  its  fullness,  even 
though  the  heart  may  respond  instinctively  to  its  beauty 
and  its  power. 

The  language  of  art  has  in  its  alphabet  three  letters, 
Composition,  Color,  and  Symbolism. 

Composition. — Composition  is  the  artist's  way  of 
putting  things  together  effectively.    The  artist  has  one 

34 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  ART  35 

or  at  most  two  chief  ideas  to  express,  and  by  composition 
he  leads  our  minds  to  discover  what  these  are.  There 
are  three  chief  types  of  composition,  as  follows: 

(a)  Linear,  that  is,  composition  by  the  use  of  leading 
lines.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  of  psychology  that  the  eye 
will  follow  strong  sensations  more  readily  than  weak 
ones.  If,  therefore,  there  is  a  demarkation  between  light 
and  shade  the  eye  is  inevitably  attracted  to  that  line 
and  will  follow  it  to  its  end.  A  succession  of  light  spots 
will  attract  the  eye  from  one  to  the  other  even  across 
intervening  darkness.  These  lines  or  spots  form  eye- 
paths,  paths  of  least  resistance  along  which  the  attention 
runs  smoothly  and  unerringly  to  whatever  lies  at  the  end 
of  the  path.  Now  the  skillful  artist  adjusts  these  eye- 
paths  so  that  they  lead  from  almost  any  extremity  of  the 
picture  to  the  object  that  is  at  the  focus  of  his  thought. 
Let  your  eye  wander  where  it  will,  it  comes  back  with  a 
sort  of  spiritual  gravity  to  this  center. 

Test  yourself  by  one  of  a  score  of  pictures.  In  the 
"Immaculate  Conception"  Murillo  will  lead  your  eye 
again  and  again  to  the  hands  of  Mary  folded  across  her 
breast,  and  when  you  see  her  face  you  will  become  aware 
that  not  it  but  the  emotion  of  her  heart  blazoned  thereon 
is  the  one  experience  the  artist  wishes  you  to  understand. 
Look  at  Ciseri's  dramatic  piece  of  historic  painting, 
"Ecce  Homo."  The  lines  of  heads,  the  spirals  on  the 
column  of  victory,  the  shadows  cast  by  the  Temple,  the 
vanishing  lines  of  the  perspective,  all  lead  your  eye  to  the 
pathetic  figure  of  Christ  exposed  here  by  Pilate  to  the 
gaze  of  the  mob.  So  in  Merson's  "Repose  in  Egypt":  the 
true  focus  is  the  Child  at  the  heart  of  the  Sphinx  far  out 
from  the  center  of  the  canvas.  With  a  great  artist  "all 
roads  lead  to  Rome." 

(b)  Psychological.    The  use  of  centers  of  attention  for 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  III 

Parting  of  Abraham  and  Lot 

Mosaic,  Church  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore,  Rome 

The  group  on  the  right  is  composed  of  Lot,  his  wife,  servants  and 
two  little  daughters.  They  move  toward  Sodom,  seen  in  the  distance. 
The  group  on  the  left  consists  of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  with  their 
hands  on  the  head  of  Isaac,  the  Child  of  Promise;  they  stand  before 
a  templelike  house  overshadowed  by  the  oak  of  Mamre.  Abraham 
and  his  group  are  evidently  staying,  Lot  and  his  group  are  going; 
for  the  land  has  been  given  to  Abraham  and  to  his  seed  forever. 

The  fact  that  when  this  incident  actually  took  place  (Gen.  13. 
1-12)  Isaac  had  not  been  bom  indicates  that  we  have  here  not  an 
illustration  but  a  piece  of  teaching.  It  portrays  the  "shadow  of  good 
things  to  come."  Isaac  stands  here  for  the  promised  offspring  of 
Abraham,  the  People  of  (j'od  who  were  to  be  countless  as  the  stars 
of  heaven.  But  this  offspring  must  be  understood  as  the  spiritual 
seed  of  Abraham  (Rom.  9.  6-8),  who  through  Christ  were  to  inherit 
the  promises  "even  us,  whom  he  also  called,  not  from  the  Jews  only, 
but  also  from  the  Gentiles"  (Rom.  9.  24).  Lot  voluntarily  separated 
himself  from  his  race  and  thereby  forfeited  his  inheritance.  He 
represents  in  this  picture  the  descendants  "according  to  the  flesh," 
the  Jewish  people,  who  deliberately  separated  themselves  from  the 
"Promised  Child"  and  so  cut  themselves  off  from  participation  in 
the  promises. 

The  picture  represents,  therefore,  that  historic  movement  by  which 
the  church  ceased  to  be  Jewish  and  became  Gentile,  a  movement 
fraught  with  so  much  consequence  to  both  parties.  It  is  an  anti- 
type, an  allegory. 

Having  perceived  this  fact,  it  only  remains  to  consider  whether  the 
incident  in  Genesis  was  written  solely  or  chiefly  as  an  allegory  and 
whether  the  hidden  meaning  is  what  the  artist  alleges  it  to  be.  An 
affirmative  answer  to  these  questions  will  lead  to  a  discussion  of  the 
correctness  in  general  of  the  allegorical  interpretation  of  Scripture, 
as  advocated  by  the  early  Christian  Fathers  and  by  Swedenborg,  and 
of  the  present-day  value  of  such  interpretation. 


36  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

the  figures  in  the  picture.  It  is  easily  verifiable  by  experi- 
ment that  attention  attracts  attention.  One  has  only  to 
stand  on  a  street  corner  and  gaze  up  into  the  air  to  as- 
semble in  a  brief  time  a  curious  crowd  of  upward  gazers. 
Everybody  wants  to  know  what  is  the  enthralling  object 
of  some  one's  attention.  So  in  a  picture,  if  the  artist 
fixes  the  gaze  of  every  one  of  his  figures  upon  a  certain 
point,  our  own  eye  turns  automatically  to  the  same 
objective.  Knowing  this  law  he  would  be  a  strange  artist 
who  should  place  his  message  somewhere  else  than  at  this 
focus  of  attention.  In  fact,  of  the  two  kinds  of  composi- 
tion, the  psychological  is  much  the  more  powerful. 
;  Illustrations  of  this  are  plentiful.  In  Burne-Jones* 
"Star  of  Bethlehem'*  the  Wise  Men  all  look  down  in- 
tently at  the  Httle  Babe  in  the  mother's  arms;  the  angel 
with  the  star  looks  that  way;  Joseph  looks  there  and 
Mary's  face  is  turned  in  that  direction  even  while  she 
looks  vaguely  toward  the  gifts.  This  is  clearly  the  story 
of  a  little  Child  and  an  offering  made  to  him. 

Sometimes  one  finds  two  foci  of  attention,  as  in  the 
picture  of  Rubens'  ^'Christ  in  the  house  of  Simon,"  with 
both  linear  and  psychological  eye-paths  running  to  each 
focus.  Christ  is  one  of  these  foci.  The  curtain,  his  robe, 
the  line  of  faces,  the  arms  and  dishes  of  the  servants  all 
lead  to  his  face  and  on  him  are  centered  the  eyes  of 
several  of  the  most  prominent  people  in  the  picture. 
Simon,  on  the  other  hand,  looks  with  dramatic  intensity 
upon  the  kneeling  figure  of  the  Magdalene,  and  Christ 
with  his  hand  down  toward  her  looks  full  at  Simon.  The 
composition  then  reveals  the  whole  theme  of  the  picture : 
Christ,  who  is  master  of  the  scene,  speaks  to  Simon  about 
Mary.  This  is  as  clearly  portrayed  by  the  picture  as  if 
Rubens  had  spoken  winged  words. 

(c)  By  emphasis.  This  is  a  simple  and  common  variety 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  ART  37 

of  composition.  In  using  it  the  artist  makes  his  important 
person  prominent  and  subordinates  the  rest.  He  can  do 
this  by  putting  him  in  high  light  while  the  others  are 
more  obscure,  or  by  making  him  large  while  others  are 
small,  or  sharply  defined  while  others  are  vague. 

One  can  observe  frequently  this  variety  of  composition, 
as  for  example  in  Era  Angelico's  ''Crucifixion."  There 
are  no  leading  lines  here,  or,  rather,  the  lines  lead  only  to 
the  border  of  the  great  fresco.  But  high  above  everyone 
in  the  very  center  of  the  picture  rises  the  figure  of  Christ 
on  the  cross,  strongly  illuminated  against  the  dark  sky 
and  further  emphasized  by  a  bright  inscription  over  his 
head  and  the  medallion  of  the  pelican  in  the  frame.  It 
is  the  artist's  way  of  reminding  us,  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted 
up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 

(d)  Emotional  values  of  composition.  Composition 
may  serve  also  to  enhance  emotional  values.  In  the 
hands  of  a  skillful  artist  feeling  may  be  intensified  purely 
by  line  combinations.  In  Rubens'  ''Crucifixion"  the 
artist  has  conveyed  a  suggestion  of  struggle  by  the  right- 
angle  opposition  of  lines  in  every  portion  of  the  picture. 
In  the  "Cleansing  of  the  Temple"  Kirchbach  has  sug- 
gested the  unconquerable  power,  the  immovable  stability 
of  Christ,  by  the  sloping  lines  that  encompass  his  form, 
echoed  in  the  slope  of  the  white  pylon  in  the  background 
at  the  right.  Thus  Van  Dyck,  in  the  "Arrest  of  Jesus," 
shows  his  spiritual  strength,  firm  as  a  rock  to  resist  the 
shock  of  the  oncoming  wave  of  violence.  So  in  von  Uhde's 
"Ascension"  one  feels  the  onward  and  irrevocable  move- 
ment of  Christ  up  the  mountain  and  beyond  the  moun- 
tain to  the  sky. 

One  might  well  begin  the  study  of  a  painting  with  its 
composition.  Certainly  such  study  comes  well  to  the 
front  of  any  consideration  of  the  artist's  message.   With- 


38  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

out  it  one  may  quite  miss  the  point  which  the  artist 
meant  us  to  see. 

Color. — Color  has  an  emotional  value  in  itself.  Some 
colors  are  warm,  some  are  stimulating,  some  are  soporific 
or  cold.  Their  juxtaposition  may  suggest  harmony  or 
discord.  No  audience  can  resist  the  witchery  of  a  night 
scene  when  thrown  by  stereopticon  on  the  curtain,  even 
though  the  result  is  obtained  by  the  uniform  appHcation 
to  the  slide  of  a  little  blue  dye.  All  this  arises  from 
the  fact  that  nature  and  we  have  been  evolved  together 
and*  that  we  all  are  tuned  to  respond  to  nature's  jnost 
vivid  characteristic^ — color. 

Unfortunately,  most  of  the  pictures  that  we  know  are 
in  monochrome.  They  are  photographs  or  half-tones 
representing  the  form  of  the  original  but  not  its  color. 
We  are  therefore  not  in  a  position  to  appreciate  the  mes- 
sage which  the  artist  has  conveyed  to  us  with  his  most 
potent  word.  If  one  has  seen  the  original  of  Merson's 
"Repose  in  Egypt"  he  will  recall  the  seductiveness  of  the 
violet  night  and  the  wondrous  warmth  of  the  orange  light 
at  Mary's  breast.  Or  if  he  has  seen  Raphael's  "Transfig- 
uration," he  will  not  have  failed  to  feel  the  harmony  and 
peace  of  the  glorious  golden  upper  half  and  the  jarring 
discords  of  the  world  of  struggle  at  the  foot  of  the  mount. 

Besides  its  emotional  value,  color  has  also  a  symbolic 
value  kndwn  only  to  the  initiated.  The  older  artists  were 
fairly  consistent  in  their  symbolic  use  of  color.  White, 
of  course,  always  stood  for  purity,  red  for  passion  of  some 
kind,  usually  love;  blue  for  faith  or  hope.  One  needs  a 
key  to  understand  these  things.  The  key  is  supplied 
more  or  less  accurately  by  the  various  books  on  s)Tn- 
bolism  found  in  our  libraries. 

Symbolism. — Symbolism  is  a  form  of  suggestion, 
\  primarily  intellectual,  by  which  the  initiated  can  see  in 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  ART  39 

an  object  more  than  is  actually  portrayed.  Art  has/ 
always  contained  symbolic  elements,  and  this  for  reasons 
implicit  in  the  nature  of  man.  Instinctively  we  love  hints 
that  set  free  the  imagination,  and  we  need  hints  where 
the  nature  of  our  thought  can  never  be  fully  expressed; 
where  there  must  be  repression  or  disguise,  or  where  the 
object  has  infinite  aspects  that  never  can  be  expressed  by 
finite  forms. 

Early  Christian  art  in  particular  was  symbolic,  first, 
because  of  the  necessity  of  maintaining  a  disguise  under 
persecution  and  again  because  the  particular  spiritual 
messages  it  had  to  convey  transcended  the  limits  of  repre- 
sentation. Who  can  paint  the  love  of  God,  or  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  or  the  wonder  of  the  indwelling 
Spirit  or  man's  eternal  quest  of  his  highest  good!  These 
things  must  be  hinted,  suggested;  they  cannot  be  por- 
trayed. 

So  also  as  the  history  of  the  church  unrolls  there  are 
personages  to  be  presented  in  art — apostles  and  saints 
and  martyrs.  Their  characters  must  be  shadowed  forth 
or  their  service  to  the  church  and  to  mankind  suggested. 
To  be  sure,  one  might  put  a  label  on  each  picture,  but 
that  is  too  simple  and  too  inartistic  a  device.  So  John 
the  Baptist  is  given  the  slender  reed  cross;  the  devil  is 
given  horns  and  a  tail;  Mary  Magdalene,  the  vase  and 
perhaps  the  skull  for  penitence;  Saint  Lawrence  carries 
his  gridiron;  Saint  Augustine  his  crosier;  Saint  Peter,  his 
keys;  the  cross  and  the  monogram  represent  Christ;  the 
trefoil  of  circles  raises  our  thoughts  to  the  Trinity;  the 
lily  stands  for  purity;  the  dove  for  the  Holy  Spirit;  wheat 
for  the  Bread  of  Life;  and  so  on,  through  the  long  vistas 
of  the  centuries  and  the  wide  range  of  art. 

How  to  read  a  picture. — The  directions  can  be 
briefly  given  thus: 


j:i)i?J 


Early  Christian  Sarcophagus 
Lateran  Museum,  Rome 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  III 
Christian  Sarcophagus.    Lateran  Museum,  Rome 

Lower  register,  beginning  on  the  left:  i.  A  fisherman  gives  another 
a  basket.  2.  Sailors  throw  Jonah  out  of  the  ship.  The  "great  fish" 
prepared  to  swallow  Jonah.  3.  The  fish  ejects  Jonah.  4.  To  the 
right  of  the  fish's  tail,  a  small  box  (the  Ark)  from  which  Noah  re- 
ceives the  oHve  branch  brought  by  a  dove.  5.  Near  the  shore,  fishes 
and  a  crab.    On  shore,  a  fisherman,  his  son  and  a  goose. 

Upper  register,  beginning  on  the  left:  6.  Christ  calling  Lazarus 
from  the  tomb;  Mary,  Martha,  and  two  disciples.  7.  Over  the  ship's 
sail,  God  (or  Christ)  in  the  sun's  disc.  8.  Moses  strikes  the  rock  and 
brings  forth  water,  which  the  Hebrews  eagerly  drink.  An  angel 
hovers  above.  9.  Three  frightened  men  run  away,  knocking  over  two 
others — possibly  depicting  a  pestilence  in  the  wilderness.  10.  Jonah 
asleep  under  his  gourd- vine.  11.  The  Good  Shepherd;  two  sheep 
look  out  from  a  fold. 

This  is  a  combination  of  symbols  expressive  of  the  resurrection  and 
salvation  by  the  use  of  well-known  antitypes  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  resurrection  is  indicated  by  2,  3,  6;  salvation  by  4,  5,  8,  11. 
What  special  fitness  have  these  symbols  individually?  Is  there  any 
Scripture  warrant  for  such  use?  What  is  the  function  of  Nos.  i,  7, 
9,  10? 

How  much  information  about  the  owner  of  this  coffin  would  these 
pictures  convey  to  a  non-Christian?  What  do  they  tell  us  about  the 
beliefs  of  early  Christianity?  If  you  were  selecting  Scripture  incidents 
to  express  your  own  religion,  what  would  you  choose? 


40  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

I  I.  See  what  the  picture  contains.  Look  at  every  inch 
I  of  it,  every  corner.  Let  no  detail  escape.  Shut  your  eyes 
'/  and  see  if  you  can  still  see  it.  If  not,  look  once  more. 
Note  the  people  in  it  and  read  their  faces.  Make  the 
imagery  sharp  so  that  hereafter  at  will  you  can  recall  it 
under  any  circumstances.  This  is  an  act  of  pure  observa- 
tion and  memory. 

2.  Study  the  composition.  Discover  who  the  chief 
personages  are.  They  probably  embody  the  artist's 
message. 

3.  Try  to  state  to  yourself  what  that  message  probably 
is  and  to  feel  its  value.  You  may  accomphsh  the  former 
perhaps  by  hard  thinking  and  by  a  review  of  the  story, 
if  there  is  one,  on  which  the  picture  is  based.  But  try  to 
reach  his  message  also  by  feehng.  This  you  may  accom- 
plish by  assuming  either  by  bodily  posture  or  in  imagina- 
tion the  actual  position  and  facial  expression  of  the  chief 
characters  in  the  picture.  Then  by  a  sure  reflex  the 
proper  emotion  and  sometimes  the  proper  idea  will  come 

y  to  you.  You  feel  your  way  into  the  picture.   You  absorb 
\  it.   You  become  it  and  it  becomes  you.   Then  you  know 

I  what  the  artist  meant. 

i 

Teaching  Material 

Composition. — Examine  any  masterpiece  to  discover 
which  of  the  three  types  of  composition,  or  what  com- 
bination of  types  the  artist  has  employed.  Does  the 
meaning  of  the  picture  become  any  clearer  when  you 
have  discovered? 

Emotional  values  of  composition.— -Find  the  best 
example  possible  where  composition  has  definitely  intensi- 
fied the  emotional  value  of  the  picture. 

Color. — If  you  have  access  to  a  museum,  test  various 
pictures  for  color  emotions.    Which  pictures  make  you 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  ART  41 

feel  comfortable?  Which  ones  irritate  you?  Which  are 
warm,  which  cold?  Which  are  bracing,  which  soporific? 
Do  any  of  them  give  you  an  emotion  that  is  associated 
usually  with  morality  or  religion?  Get  from  the  library 
a  book  on  the  symbolism  of  color  and  test  any  old  master 
to  see  if  his  colors  are  appropriate  to  their  wearers. 

Symbolism. — With  the  aid  of  some  book  on  iconog- 
raphy, examine  half  a  dozen  religious  pictures  for  their 
symbols  or  emblems :  what  persons  are  identified  by  this 
means?   What  doctrines  are  suggested? 

How  to  read  a  picture. — Practice  recalling  pictures: 
Select  in  your  mind  one  with  which  you  are  familiar,  and 
without  consulting  it,  write  down  a  list  of  all  it  contains. 
Add  the  artist's  full  name  and  the  exact  title  of  the 
picture.  Compare  now  with  the  copy  and  check  up  the 
results. 

Practice  stating  to  yourself,  or  to  others,  what  a  picture 
means  to  you.  In  a  word,  what  is  its  message?  What 
emotions  or  insights  are  inspired  by  it? 

References 

Carl  H.  P.  Thurston:  The  Art  of  Looking  at  Pictures 
(1916).  Definite  suggestions  about  what  to  look  for  in 
the  great  masters. 

Charles  H.  Coffin:  How  to  Study  Pictures. 

C.  E.  Clement:  Christian  Symbolism. 

E.  A.  Green:  Saints  and  their  Symbols. 


CHAPTER  IV 
PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN 

/  Pictures  and  children — who  can  separate  them,  and 
jwho  would !  They  were  made  for  each  other.  A  picture 
/draws  a  child  like  a  magnet,  and  then  taking  the  little 
;'one  by  the  hand  leads  it  through  the  dream-gate  into 
other  worlds.  How  the  picture  does  it  this  chapter  will 
endeavor  to  show. 

Imagery :  its  nature  and  sources. — A  large  part  of 
childhood  education  consists  in  acquiring  an  adequate 
body  of  imagery.  Long  before  a  child  can  think  his  mind 
works.  First  in  point  of  time  comes  the  sensation — the 
awareness  of  contact  with  the  outer  world.  After  the 
sensation  has  passed  something  remains  behind — a 
"brain  path,"  a  polarization  of  brain  fiber,  or  some  con- 
dition by  whatever  figure  of  speech  it  may  be  described — 
the  function  of  which  is  to  reproduce  faintly  the  sensa- 
tion upon  demand.  This  faint  reproduction  is  called  an 
Image.  It  is  the  form  memory  takes.  It  is  the  ghost  of 
an  experience.  It  is  the  mind  stuff  out  of  which  genuine 
ideas  are  made,  the  concept  in  the  process  of  formation. 
And  every  image  carries  with  it  a  paenumbra,  or  halo,  of 
feeling  which  is  also  the  ghost  of  an  original  emotional 
experience.  Before  you  can  tell  a  story  that  a  child  will 
understand  you  must  make  sure  that  the  child  can  sup- 
ply the  necessary  imagery,  for  without  imagery  there  is 
no  imagination. 

An  illustration  wiU  make  this  clear.  Suppose  I  say  to 
a  child:  "Let  me  tell  you  a  story.  Once  upon  a  time 
there  was  a  little  squirrel  who  lived  in  a  hollow  apple  tree 

42 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN  43 

in  a  farmer's  orchard.  His  house  had  a  front  door,  a  hall 
and  two  rooms.  The  front  door  came  out  just  where  two 
big  limbs  of  the  apple  tree  branched  from  the  trunk.  The 
hallway  stood  on  end.  It  ran  up  and  down,  mostly  down. 
The  little  rooms  were  at  the  bottom  of  it.  In  one  room 
Mr.  Squirrel  slept;  in  the  other  room  Mr.  Squirrel 
stored  his  nuts." 

Most  children  will  be  able  to  image  this  story  if  they 
have  had  any  experience  with  the  country.  They  have 
seen  apple  trees,  perhaps  with  holes  in  their  trunks.  They 
have  seen  squirrels  and  nuts.  They  live  in  a  house  and 
know  about  hallways  and  rooms.  Their  experience  with 
these  things  has  left  behind  appropriate  imagery  which 
can  be  called  up  by  suggestion.  Say  "Squirrel"  and  the 
squirrel  appears  in  their  minds.  Say  "Apple  tree"  and 
they  can  see  the  limbs  and  trunk  and  perhaps  smell  the 
scent  of  the  blossoms  or  even  taste  the  luscious  fruit.  The 
story-teller  is  really  a  magician,  a  conjurer.  With  every 
noun  he  waves  a  wand  or  presses  a  button  and  the 
mechanism  of  the  child's  mind  does  the  rest.  The 
characters  of  the  story  appear,  the  action  follows.  The 
child  operates  in  his  own  brain  a  little  moving  picture 
show  and  concentrates  upon  it  his  entire  interest  and 
emotion. 

Now  let  me  tell  you  another  story:  "Once  upon  a  time 
there  was  a  dinosaur  who  lived  on  the  top  of  a  fl^che. 
He  went  out  one  morning  and  met  an  amoeba  who  said, 
*Let  us  go  to  the  lair  of  the  troglodyte  and  steal  his  num- 
melites!'  So  together  they  went  to  the  troglodyte's  lair. 
But  the  troglodyte  jumped  out  upon  them  so  that  they 
were  frightened  and  ran  away  and  hid  behind  a  stela 
where  a  scarabaeus  ate  them  up." 

A  child  will  not  be  able  to  film  this  story  nor  will  a 
grown-up,  for  that  matter,  unless  he  has  had  an  un- 


44  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

usually  large  experience  with  the  dictionary.  Everything 
is  familiar  in  the  story  except  the  nouns,  but  the  nouns 
are  a  great  way  beyond  the  experience  of  the  child. 
Having  had  no  experience,  he  has  no  ghost  of  an  expe- 
rience; and  no  ghost,  no  moving-picture  show;  no  imag- 
ination, no  interest,  no  feeling — except  one  of  being 
baffled. 

Enlarging  one's  imagery. — Now,  if  a  child  were  de- 
pendent upon  his  own  immediate  environment  for  ex- 
perience and  imagery,  he  would  die  of  old  age  before  he 
got  an  education.  But  the  child's  experience  is  supple- 
mented from  the  very  first  in  the  educational  process  by 
what  might  be  called  second-hand  experience,  the  ex- 
perience of  some  one  else  reduced  to  visible  form  and 
brought  to  him.  That  visible  form  is  usually  art  of 
however  humble  a  variety. 

Through  the  pages  of  his  picture  books  the  child  meets 
with  his  first  lion,  rhinoceros,  Indian,  ship,  fairy.  Through 
the  story  book  he  learns  to  recognize  at  sight  George 
Washington,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Roosevelt,  John  Alden 
and  Priscilla,  and  a  hundred  other  people  whom  he  never 
saw,  nor  his  parents  ever  saw,  but  who  nevertheless  are 
quite  as  real  in  his  mind  as  Jack  the  Giant  Killer,  Hia- 
watha, or  his  mother.  The  primary  function  of  pictures 
with  little  children  is  to  enlarge  experience,  to  place  the 
world  within  their  grasp,  to  furnish  the  stuff  with  which 
they  must  do  a  large  part  of  their  thinking  for  a  number 
of  years  to  come. 

The  permanence  of  childhood  imagery. — The 
beauty  and  sometimes  the  tragedy  of  it  is  that  the  images 
thus  created  stick  long  after  the  child  is  grown  up  when 
he  uses  for  the  most  part  the  first-hand  imagery  derived 
from  his  own  immediate  contact  with  the  world.  The 
right  suggestion  will  call  up  primitive  images  of  his  child- 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN  45 

hood.  The  words  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  call  up  in  the 
writer's  mind  a  certain  green-covered  book  with  large 
print,  with  a  fierce  picture  of  Apollyon,  John  Bunyan 
chained  in  a  prison  cell,  valiant  Mr.  Greatheart,  and  at 
the  end,  the  door  into  the  side  of  the  hill  with  an  angel 
warming  his  hands  in  the  light  which  streamed  from  some 
horrible  depth  below  into  which  Ignorance  had  just  been 
cast.  It  calls  up  the  cane-seated  chair  on  which  the  book 
rested  and  the  httle  hassock  on  which  he  sat  before  it  on 
Sunday  afternoon.  Those  images  will  never  fade.  They 
were  put  there  years  before  any  appreciation  of  the  great 
English  classic  was  his,  and  before  any  criticism  of  its 
individualistic  theology  cast  doubts  upon  the  realities 
which  the  great  allegory  purports  to  paint. 

This  fact  of  the  indelibility  of  childhood  imagery  places 
upon  parents  and  teachers  a  great  responsibility.  It 
ought  to  make  them  think  twice  before  they  buy  a 
picture  book  and  examine  not  so  much  the  stories — 
though  these  are  important— but  the  illustrations.  It 
should  suggest  also  that  the  wise  parent  banish  from  the 
home  as  far  as  possible  the  Sunday  supplement  with  its 
comic  pictures  and  its  society  page,  and  welcome  to  the 
home  only  those  publications  that  present  the  beauty  of 
life,  the  great  wholesome  outdoors,  men  and  women  doing 
beautiful  things,  and  fairies  and  other  wonderful  creatures 
whose  function  in  life  it  is  to  help  and  not  to  harm.  Thus 
only  can  we  build  in  a  child's  mind  a  healthful  imagery 
and  attach  to  it  emotional  values  that  are  worth  per- 
petuating. 

How  to  select  pictures  for  children. — In  selecting 
pictures  for  children  certain  facts  and  principles  should 
be  borne  in  mind. 

I.  Pictures  should  represent  the  child's  natural  inter- 
ests; that  is,  they  should  pertain  to  the  world  the  child 


46  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

knows  something  about,  and  should  illustrate  action  and 
embody  emotions  that  the  child  can  readily  appreciate. 
In  such  pictures,  the  characters  will  be  children  with 
their  mothers  and  fathers,  and  the  pets  or  animals  that 
children  are  likely  to  know  about.  If  one  must  go 
beyond  the  realm  of  the  child's  experience,  the  pictures 
should  contain  elements  that  may  be  easily  understood 
and  assimilated. 

2.  The  pictures  should  illustrate  a  story.  The  child's 
main  interest  will  not  be  the  picture  but  the  narrative 
based  upon  the  characters  in  the  picture.  The  picture 
'"furnishes  merely  the  actors  and  the  setting;  the  words 
must  give  life  to  these  actors  and  must  make  them  play 
their  part.  People  in  action  are  the  proper  theme.  Mere 
portraits  therefore  are  of  no  significance  to  a  child,  how- 
ever beautiful  they  may  appear  to  adults.  Mere  land- 
scapes have  no  interest.  But  put  the  person  into  the 
landscape,  tell  the  story  of  what  he  does  in  such  a  setting, 
and  the  picture  at  once  becomes  significant.  There  is  at 
once  a  point  of  attention,  a  potent  suggestion  to  the 
imagination.  Such  a  dull  picture  as  the  Roman  Forum 
becomes  highly  interesting  to  a  six-year-old  when  he 
learns  that  the  distant  round  building  beyond  the  Arch 
of  Titus  is  where  Androcles  did  not  get  eaten  by  the  lion. 
Rome  and  its  famous  arena  come  to  life  again  with  this 
magic  hint. 

One  must  be  careful  with  sensitively  organized  little 
people  not  to  dwell  upon  scenes  of  blood.  Unfortunately, 
many  of  the  stirring  incidents  of  the  Old  Testament  have 
to  do  with  battle  and  murder  and  sudden  death,  while 
the  life  of  Christ  is  ushered  in  with  the  massacre  of  the 
innocents  and  ends  with  the  horrors  of  the  crucifixion. 
Pictures  of  these  scenes  have  an  uncanny  fascination  for 
children  that  may  easily  become  morbid.   While  it  may 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN  47 

not  be  possible  or  desirable  to  avoid  such  pictures  al- 
together, it  is  well  to  call  attention  to  other  features  than 
the  horrors — to  the  courage  or  nobility  of  the  hero  or  the 
end  to  be  attained. 

The  Picture-story  Method. — If  one  is  dealing  with 
a  single  child,  it  is  desirable  to  let  him  hold  the  book  or 
the  picture  himself.    The  physical  contact  seems  to  give  , 
a  sense  of  reality,  or  at  least  to  satisfy  a  tactual  instinct,  t 
With  a  class  the  picture  should  be  large  enough  to  be) 
clearly  seen  by  all.   Go  at  once  to  the  heart  of  the  picture. 
Introduce  the  hero.   Let  him  make  his  full  impact.  Then 
tell  the  story  in  such  a  way  that  the  other  personages  inf 
the  picture  become  actors  and  the  backgrounds  become 
essential  to  the  narration.    Give  what  went  before  the 
moment  chosen  by  the  illustrator,  and  if  it  seems  neces- 
sary, what  comes  after.    But,  last  of  all,  return  to  the 
central  figure,  the  hero,  so  that  the  final  and  dominant 
impression  shall  be  of  him.     Encourage  questions.    A 
child  who  asks  questions  is  interested,  while  one  who 
does  not  ask,  may  or  may  not  be.    Questions  give  the 
story-teller  a  chance  to  comment  on  details  that  might 
otherwise  have  been  overlooked  or  to  correct  erroneous 
impressions.   Be  sure  to  give  the  child  a  chance,  then  or 
later,  to  tell  the  story  back  to  you,  or  at  least  to  answer  I 
questions   which    will    show    whether   your   pupil   has  \ 
listened  to  good  advantage. 

A  child's  use  of  the  picture-book. — It  is  interesting 
to  watch  a  child  with  a  picture-book.  Beginning  perhaps 
as  early  as  two  years  of  age  the  child  will  sit  on  the  floor 
and  amuse  himself,  if  he  is  well  educated,  by  turning  the 
leaves,  naming  the  pictures  and  the  personages  or  objects 
in  the  pictures,  or  telling  to  himself  the  stories  that  go 
with  the  pictures.  As  the  child  grows  older  the  pictures 
become  more  and  more  suggestive  of  details.    The  nar- 


The  Escape  from  Doubting  Castle 


Taken  from  Bunyan's  The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  illustrated  by  the 
brothers  Rhead,  by  permission  of  the  pubHshers,  The  Century 
Company. 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  IV 
The  Escape  from  Doubting  Castle 

Study  the  picture  first  for  its  details:  the  castle,  the  bare  land- 
scape, the  fruitless  tree,  the  relative  size  of  the  giant  and  his  prisoners, 
the  dress  of  each,  the  claws  and  hairy  arms  of  the  giant,  his  eyes,  his 
mouth,  his  club,  the  key,  the  speed  of  the  escaping  man.  At  the  same 
time  feel  the  emotional  values  of  these  details:  the  homesick  feeling 
about  such  a  land,  the  despair  at  being  led  into  a  castle  so  strong, 
from  which  no  one  could  ever  get  out  or  be  rescued,  the  fear  that  so 
huge  a  giant  would  inspire,  his  desperate  attempt  to  keep  going  even 
after  he  has  fallen,  his  rage  (as  well  as  his  fit)  as  expressed  by  froth- 
ing at  the  mouth,  the  fear  of  Hopeful  expressed  by  his  looking  back, 
the  presence  of  mind  of  Christian  in  bringing  all  his  armor  away 
with  him,  and  the  sheer  fun  of  fooling  the  old  tyrant  and  getting 
away  as  expressed  by  the  freedom  with  which  Christian  kicks  his 
heels  behind.  You  must  imagine  yourself  to  be  the  giant  in  order 
to  imderstand  how  he  feels,  then  imagine  yourself  to  be  Christian 
and  Hopeful  to  feel  how  they  feel.  Then  you  are  in  a  position  to  tell 
the  story  to  a  child,  with  this  picture  in  his  hands,  adding  to  the 
clearness  and  emotional  quality  of  your  narrative  by  a  skillful  inter- 
weaving of  the  details  here  suggested. 


48  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

rative  repeated  by  the  child  becomes  fuller,  until  you 
hear  him  give  back  all  the  essentials  of  the  story  as  he 
has  heard  it,  usually  in  the  very  words  he  has  heard  it, 
the  whole  performance  given  with  as  much  apparent 
delight  as  the  child  exhibited  when  the  parent  did  the 
original  telling. 

Listen  to  the  five-year-old  as  he  turns  the  wonderfully 
decorative  pages  of  the  Rhead  Brothers'  Pilgrim^s  Pro- 
gress. "There  is  old  Giant  Despair.  'He  is  sitting  on  his 
castle  looking  for  people  trespassing  on  his  grounds. 
Who  is  this  I  see,  walking  under  my  trees?  It  is  Chris- 
tian and  Hopeful.  They  must  not  walk  on  my  grounds.' 
.  .  .  This  is  Giant  Despair  creeping  through  the  bushes. 
See  the  knife  in  his  mouth.  He  is  not  making  any  noise. 
*Aha!  I  see  them!  They  have  walked  on  my  grounds. 
Aha!  you  two  rascals,  wake  up,  here!  What  do  you  mean 
by  walking  on  my  grounds?  You  come  along  with  me 
to  my  dungeon.'  .  .  .  And  he  goes  to  bed  and  says  to 
his  wife,  Mrs.  Diffidence:  What  shall  I  do  with  these 
sturdy  rascals?  They  have  walked  on  my  grounds!' 
^Give  them  a  good  beating,'  she  says.  .  .  .  Here  is  Giant 
Despair  going  down  into  his  dungeon.  He  has  a  great 
club.  He  is  going  to  beat  these  two  men  for  trespassing 
on  his  grounds.  .  .  .  'What  a  fool  I  am,'  quoth  Christian, 
'to  lie  here  in  this  dungeon.  I  have  a  key  in  my  bosom 
called  Promise.  Come,  let  us  get  out  before  Giant  Despair 
wakes  up.'  So  he  put  in  the  key  and  opened  the  door,  oh, 
so  still;  and  he  opened  another  door,  oh,  so  still.  But 
when  he  opened  the  great  door  of  the  castle  it  creaked 
and  waked  up  Giant  Despair.  .  .  .  Here  is  old  Giant 
Despair  tumbled  down.  He  ran  after  his  prisoners  but 
he  fell  into  one  of  his  fits.  In  sunshiny  weather  he  falls 
into  fits.  See  his  big  club  that  has  fallen  out  of  his  hand. 
Christian  and  Hopeful  are  running  away,  very  glad  to 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN  49 

get  out  of  the  dungeon.    They  won't  trespass  any  more 
on  Giant  Despair's  grounds." 

Thus  the  little  mind  stores  up  pictures  of  things  that 
at  present  he  knows  nothing  about.  He  loves  the  adven- 
ture of  it;  he  loves  to  be  afraid  of  Giant  Despair;  he 
loves  to  find  the  key  in  his  own  bosom  and  to  fool  the  old 
giant  by  getting  out.  He  loves  to  see  the  fallen  monster 
foaming  at  the  mouth,  his  eyes  bulging  out,  while  friends 
Christian  and  Hopeful  make  good  their  escape.  Years 
afterward  when  the  evil  days  come  and  Giant  Despair  in 
reality  catches  him  trespassing  on  his  grounds,  who  knows"? 
but  these  old  memories  will  come  flocking  back  and  that  • 
Christian  will  again  in  good  earnest  pluck  from  his  bosom 
the  key  called  Promise  and  open  the  door  into  larger 
life? 

After-effects. — ^That  pictures  will  do  this  for  a  person 
is  more  than  a  hope.  It  is  the  truth  of  experience. 
Pictures  have  not  lost  their  primitive  magic  quality.  They 
compress  within  their  small  compass  sometimes  an  in- 
calculable amount  of  feeling  and  of  power.  And  as  sug- 
gestion calls  them  up  all  through  later  life  they  liberate 
within  the  consciousness  sometimes  just  the  dynamic 
that  is  necessary  to  move  the  will  to  action,  to  deter- 
mine the  choice,  to  give  the  energizing  emotion,  to  open 
a  vista,  to  start  a  trend,  and  so  in  some  degree  to  shape 
character. 

People  of  the  Bible  in  pictures. — The  chief  per- 
sons of  the  Bible  may  become  so  real  to  a  child  through 
pictures  that  he  will  always  thereafter  reckon  them 
among  his  personal  acquaintances.  The  wise  parent  or 
teacher  will,  of  course,  attach  to  the  picture  the  story  it 
illustrates  and  will  see  that  the  child  catches  through 
sympathy  the  teller's  own  emotional  reaction  and  moral 
judgment.   It  is  not  necessary  with  children  to  point  the 


50  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

moral  in  so  many  words,  but  to  tell  the  story  with  such 
feeling  and  emphasis  that  the  desired  attitude  toward 
the  persons  and  their  acts  shall  be  induced. 

Implicit  in  the  first  score  of  the  pictures  listed  below 
are  such  teachings  about  Hf e  as  the  following :  God  is  the 
giver  of  life.  Our  duty  is  to  obey  God.  Sin  brings  sorrow. 
Anger  leads  to  wrongdoing.  Life  is  a  struggle  with  our 
lower  nature.  Envy,  jealousy,  conceit  destroy  love  and 
lead  to  further  trouble.  Faithfulness  to  duty  brings 
character  and  sometimes  advancement.  A  call  to  service 
is  a  call  from  God. 

Partial  List 

Adam  and  Eve       Michelangelo:  "Creation    of   Adam'' 
(Sistine  Ceiling). 
Michelangelo:  '^Temptation  and  Ex- 
pulsion" (Sistine  Ceiling). 

Cain  and  Abel        Bouguereau:  'The  First  Death.'' 
Cormon:  "Cain  and  His  Family." 

Noah  Scott:  "The  Eve  of  the  Deluge." 

G.  Brion:  "The  End  of  the  Deluge." 
Maclise:  "Noah's  Sacrifice." 

Abraham  VonUhde:"The    Lord    Appears    to 

Abraham." 
^  VonUhde:  "The   Testing   of   Abra- 
ham." 

Jacob  Von  Gebhardt :  "Jacob  Wrestling  with 

the  Angel." 
Penrose:  "Jacob  Wrestling." 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN  51 

Joseph  Tissot:  ''Joseph    and    his    Brothers" 

(two  pictures) . 
F.  M.  Brown:  'The  Coat  of  Many 

Colors." 
Harold    Speed:    "Joseph    Interprets 

Pharaoh's  Dream." 
E.  J.  Poynter:  "Joseph  Introducing 

Jacob  to  Pharaoh." 


Moses  Delaroche:  "Moses  in  the  Bulrushes." 

^  E.   J.   Poynter:  "They  Made  Their 

Lives  Bitter." 
Botticelli:  "Moses  and  the  Daughters 

of  Jethro." 
J.  Swan:  "The  Burning  Bush." 
H.  Flandrin :  "Moses  and  the  Burning 

Bush." 
Hacker:  "And  There  Was  a   Great 

Cry." 
Alma-Tadema :  "The  Lord  Slays  the 

First-born." 
E.      Nonnand:      "The     Death     of 

Pharaoh's  First-born." 
S.  Schneider:  "The  Egyptians  Over- 
thrown in  the  Red  Sea." 
Millais:  "Victory,  O  Lord." 
Gerome:  "Battle    with    the    Amale- 

kites." 
Rochegrasse:    "Moses   Breaking   the 

Tables  of  Law." 
Von    Uhde:    "Raising    the    Brazen 

Serpent." 
Michelangelo:  "Moses"  (statue). 


52  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Samson  J.  P.  Laurens:  "Vision  of  Manoah." 

Bonnat:  'The  Youth  of  Samson." 
Solomon:  "Samson  Bound." 


Samuel 


Ilja  Repin:  "Hannah's  Prayer." 
Topham:  "Hannah,  Eli,  and  the  In- 
fant Samuel." 
Reynolds:  "The  Infant  Samuel." 
J.  Sant:  "The  Infant  Samuel." 


Ruth 


Calderon:  "Ruth  and  Naomi." 
B ruck-La jos:  "Ruth  Gleaning." 
Ryland:  "Ruth." 


David 


Normand:  "David  and  Saul." 
Israels:  "David  before  Saul." 
Israels:  "David  and  Goliath." 
Mme.  Bouguereau:   "David  as  Good 

Shepherd." 
Mme.        Starr-Canziani:        "David 

Brought  Before  Saul." 
Shields:  "David." 
W.  L.  Taylor:  "When  I  Consider  Thy 

Heavens." 
W.  L.  Taylor:  "He    Shall    Give    His 

Angels  Charge." 


Elijah 


F.  M.  Brown:  "Elijah  Restoring  the 

Widow's  Son." 
Brozik:  "Restoration  of  the  Widow's 

Son." 
Dicksee:  "The  Arrow  of  the  Lord's 

Victory." 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN 


53 


Elisha 
Esther 
Daniel 


Mary 


Nativity 
Magi 


Flight 


Topham:  **Naaman's  Wife  and  the 
Captive  Maid." 

Normand:  "Esther  Denouncing  Ha- 
man." 

Riviere:  "Daniel"  (among  the  lions). 

Riviere:  "Daniel's  Answer  to  the 
King." 

Rochegrasse :  "Madness  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar." 

Hacker:  "Annunciation." 
Bulleid:  "Annunciation." 
Beatrice  Parsons:  "Annunciation." 
Machetti:  "Annunciation." 

Dagnan-Bouveret:  "Madonna  of  the 

Shop." 
Dagnan-Bouveret :     "The    Madonna 

with  the  Infant  Jesus." 

Walther  Firle:  "Holy  Night." 

Van  der  Weyden:  "Adoration  of  the 

Magi." 
Gentile  da  Fabriano:  "Adoration  of 

the  Kings." 
Fellowes-Prynne :  "The  Desire  of  All 

Nations." 

Girardet:  "Flight  into  Egypt." 
Meurisse-Franchomme :   "Concert   of 

Angels." 
Pape:  'Tight  in  Egypt." 
Long:  "Anno  Domini." 


54 


ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 


Boy  Christ  W.  L.  Taylor:  ^'The  Boy  Christ." 

Dagnan-Bouveret:       "The       Christ 

Child." 
Breton:  * 'The  Divine  Apprentice." 
Kowalski:  ''The  Childhood  of  Jesus." 
Millais:  "Christ  in  the  House  of  His 

Parents." 
Hunt:    "Finding    of    Christ    in    the 

Temple." 
Zimmermann:    "Boy    Jesus    in    the 

Temple." 


Baptism 


Verrocchio:  "The  Baptism  of  Christ." 
F.    du    Mond:     "The    Baptism    of 
Christ." 


Temptation 


Cornicelius : 
Christ." 


'The    Temptation    of 


Teaching 
Healing 


Copping:  "The  Well  at  Sychar." 

Aubert:  "Jesus    Christ   Healing   the 

Sick." 
Hacker:  "Christ  and  the  Magdalene." 
Jacomb-Hood:    "Raising    of    Jairus' 

Daughter." 
H.  O.  Tanner:  "Raising  of  Lazarus." 
B.  Constant:  "Raising  of  Lazarus." 
Morelli:  "Jesus  of  Galilee." 


Parables 


G.  W.  Joy:  "The  Merchantman  and 
the  Pearl  of  Great  Price." 

Puvis  de  Chavannes:  "The  Prodigal 
Son." 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN 


Parables 


55 


J.  M.  Swan:  'The  Prodigal  Son." 
Burnand:  "The  Great  Supper." 
Evelyn  Pyke-Nott:  "Justified  Rather 
than  the  Other." 


Transfiguration 
Passion  Week 


Raphael:  "The  Transfiguration." 
Prell:  "Judas  Receiving  the  Silver." 
Da  Vinci:  "The  Last  Supper." 
F.  M.  Brown:  "Washing  the  Disciples' 

Feet." 
Bacon:  "Jesus  Christ  at  Gethsemane." 
Hofmann:  "Gethsemane." 
Munkacsy:  "Christ  Before  Pilate." 
Ciseri:  "Ecce  Homo." 
B.  Constant:  "Arrest  of  Jesus." 
Told:  "Peter's  Denial." 
Harrach:  "Peter's  Denial." 
Dollman:  "Judas  Iscariot." 
B.  Constant:  "Crucifixion." 
Ender:  "Holy  Women  at  the  Tomb." 
Girardet:  "Walk  to  Emmaus." 
Girardet:  "Supper  at  Emmaus." 
Kiisthardt:  "Peace  Be  Unto  You." 
Hunt:  "Light  of  the  World." 
A.    Abbey:    "Jesus    Stands    at    the 

Door." 


John  Baptist  Puvis    de    Chavannes:    "Beheading 

John  the  Baptist." 

Apostles  A.  van  der  Werff:  "Descent  of  the 

Holy  Ghost." 
Millais:  "St.  Stephen." 


56  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Apostles  Raphael:    *'St.    Peter's    Deliverance 

from  Prison." 
Michetti:  ''Conversion  of  Saul." 
Copping:  ' 'Paul  on  the  Castle  Stairs." 
J.  Sant:  "The  Infant  Timothy  Un- 
folding the  Scriptures." 
LeSueur:  "St.  Paul  at  Ephesus." 
Shields:  "St.  Paul  at  Rome." 
Long:  "Diana  or  Christ." 

Note. — Many  of  these  story-pictures  will  be  found 
more  useful  in  the  Junior  age.  They  are  listed  here  for 
convenience  of  reference.  Always  use  the  best  picture 
available  when  telling  a  story  to  children,  whether  or  not 
they  can  appreciate  all  its  details,  its  symbolism,  its 
poetry.  Use  as  much  of  the  picture  as  they  can  assim- 
ilate. 

Teaching  Material 

Imagery,  its  nature  and  sources. — Write  out  a 
complete  description  of  some  character  in  a  story  you 
have  never  seen  pictured.  This  is  a  test  for  the  sharpness 
of  your  imagery. 

Enlarging  one's  imagery. — Make  a  list  of  twenty 
things  with  which  you  are  tolerably  familiar  and  which 
you  can  definitely  image,  but  which  actually  you  have 
never  seen.  How  in  each  case  did  you  come  by  these 
images? 

The  permanence  of  childhood  imagery. — Make  a 
short  list  of  still  vivid  mental  images  created  before  you 
were  five  years  old.  How  many  of  these  are  of  book 
illustrations  or  other  pictures? 

How  to  select  pictures  for  children. — From  your 
own  experience  make  a  list  of  pictures  suited  to  children 


PICTURES  AND  CHILDREN  57 

below  nine  years  old.  Mention  some  supposedly  suitable 
ones  that  your  experience  has  shown  to  be  unsuitable. 
What  is  the  objection  to  them? 

The  picture-story  method. — Try  out  the  suggestions 
and  report  how  they  work. 

The  child's  use  of  a  picture  book. — Test  a  child 
who  does  not  know  how  to  read  and  see  how  fully  he 
will  tell  a  story  by  means  of  the  illustrations. 

After-effects. — Have  pictures  ever  been  to  you  more 
than  a  source  of  pleasant  reveries? 

People  of  the  Bible  in  pictures. — Test  a  child  with 
a  series  of  pictures  to  see  how  many  Bible  characters  he 
can  identify.  How  much  of  the  story  of  each  picture  can 
he  give  or  how  many  of  the  details  of  the  picture  can 
he  interpret?    Report. 


CHAPTER  V 

PICTURES  FOR  JUNIORS 

j  One  of  the  sure  symptoms  of  the  arrival  of  boyhood 
!  and  girlhood,  as  distinct  from  childhood,  is  the  waning  of 
i  the  fairy-story  interest.  This  symptom  is  less  pronounced 
with  girls  than  with  boys,  but  with  both  alike  the 
''hardening"  process  is  going  on.  The  mind  is  less  fluid, 
less  suggestible.  Contact  with  the  world  is  teaching  the 
difference  between  fact  and  fancy,  and  growing  experience 
is  demanding  less  fancy  and  more  fact. 
I  The  passion  for  reality. — The  childhood  request, 
/  "Tell  me  a  story,"  now  becomes  'Tell  me  a  true  story." 
When  the  status  of  the  story  as  told  is  undefined,  the 
question  that  caps  the  story  usually  is,  "Was  that  a  true 
story?"  The  demand,  however,  is  less  for  a  story  that 
actually  happened  than  for  one  that  conceivably  might 
have  happened.  The  prince  with  the  green  feather  in  his 
hat  who  wakes  the  sleeping  princess  in  the  forest  is  no 
more  acceptable  than  the  mother  bunnie  who  warns 
Cotton-tail  not  to  go  into  Mr.  McGregor's  garden  while 
she  has  gone  to  market.  Both  situations  alike  are  now 
seen  to  be  nonsense.  It  is  more  fun  to  own  a  real  rabbit 
than  to  hear  about  Cotton-tail;  more  fun  to  have  a  hut 
in  the  woods  and  trap  woodchucks  than  to  hunt  a 
princess  in  the  imagination.  The  world  has  become  a 
real  world.  There  are  truly  men  and  women  in  it,  boys 
and  girls.  There  are  real  adventures  to  be  dared,  real 
fights  to  be  won;  and  the  hero  of  every  story  heard  is 
the  boy  himself. 

This  growing  passion  for  reality  is  reflected  and,  of 
course,  developed  by  the  day-school  curriculum.    The 

58 


PICTURES  FOR  JUNIORS  59 

story  material  becomes  biographical  and  then  historical, 
while  for  backgrounds  there  are  no  longer  clouds  and  far- 
away forests  but  real  places  on  the  earth,  and  a  map. 
Geography,  as  well  as  history,  has  arrived.  The  solid 
earth  is  beneath  the  feet,  there  are  great  mountains  and 
a  real  ocean,  there  are  lands  beyond  the  sea  with  strange 
yet  human  people  in  them,  and  all  these  things  call  to 
the  imagination  with  a  resistless  power.  It  is  the  world 
demanding  to  be  known  as  well  as  the  child  demanding 
to  know,  for  the  child  must  become  the  man  and  must 
shape  the  world  to  its  destiny. 

The  art  interests  of  juniors. — At  first  sight  this 
rising  tide  of  realism  might  seem  to  sweep  all  art  aside. 
In  one  sense  it  does,  for  probably  there  is  no  period  in 
the  individual's  development  when  the  usual  art-picture 
has  less  appeal.  Pictures  that  represent  other  people's 
states  of  mind  are  not  real  to  boys  and  girls.  Pictured 
loves  and  hates,  joys  and  sorrows  and  soul-experiences  in 
general  are  largely  beyond  the  realm  of  appreciation  be- 
cause they  are  subjective  realities. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  picture  that  expresses  what  the 
boy  or  girl  conceives  to  be  a  reality  has  a  strong  attrac- 
tion. Reality  for  the  preadolescent  is  objective  reality. 
A  shipwreck  is  real,  the  place  where  Washington  crossed 
the  Delaware  is  real;  Chateau-Thierry,  Troy,  Rome, 
Bunker  Hill,  the  north  pole  are  real.  The  art  that  con- 
cerns itself  with  such  reahties  has  an  immediate  appeal 
and  is  a  most  useful  adjunct  to  the  history  book  and  the 
story  of  adventure.  Such  art,  however,  is  hardly  art  at 
all.  It  is  rather  a  pictorial  substitute  for  art,  yet  its 
function  is  precisely  that  of  the  imaginative  art  we  have 
recommended  for  children,  namely,  to  enlarge  the  expe- 
rience, to  give  a  definite  focus  for  the  attention,  and  to 
create  appropriate  imagery  for  future  use. 


6o  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Realistic  art  in  religious  teaching. — Perhaps  the  one 
baneful  thing  about  most  of  our  past  teaching  of  rehgion 
is  the  note  of  unreaHty  in  it.  Somehow  there  grows  up 
in  the  minds  of  our  children  the  idea  that  Jesus  and 
David  are  all  of  a  piece  with  Perseus  and  Jack  the  Giant 
Killer,  and  that  all  of  the  adventures  recorded  in  the 
Bible  school  leaflets  took  place  not  only  "way  off"  but 
up  in  the  sky.  This  impression  lasts  into  adolescence  and 
sometimes  into  maturity,  and  may  be  one  potent  reason 
why  so  much  of  our  rehgious  life  occupies  a  water-tight 
compartment  quite  unconnected  with  the  real  business 
of  living. 

Jesus  is  not  a  myth,  he  was  a  man.  If  he  was  a  man, 
he  lived  somewhere  and  at  some  time;  he  did  things,  he 
went  to  places,  he  talked  and  walked  with  men  and 
women.  Where  did  he  live?  What  did  he  do?  How  did 
he  look  when  he  did  it?  and  what  did  his  companions 
look  like?  These  are  all  legitimate  questions  in  the 
mouths  of  boys  and  girls.  The  average  teacher,  through 
lack  of  knowledge,  cannot  answer  these  questions;  the 
average  religious  picture  does  not  answer  them  because 
of  the  ignorance  of  the  artist  or  because  of  his  preoccupa- 
tion with  other  values  than  objective  ones.  But  the 
questions  can  be  answered  correctly  by  two  types  of 
pictures,  one  of  which  at  least  we  shall  have  to  classify 
as  art — the  work  of  certain  nineteenth-century  artists 
like  Tissot,  Hunt,  Siemiradski  and  others — and  actual 
photographs. 

Realistic  artists. — James  Tissot}  Perhaps  chief 
among  the  reaHsts  who  have  painted  bibhcal  backgrounds 
is  the  French  Tissot.  The  facts  of  his  career  can  be  found 
in  any  modern  dictionary  of  art.    The  essential  point, 


1  James  Tissot:  The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ  (3  vols.    The  Werner  Co.,  New  York, 
1903;  365  compositions). 


PICTURES  FOR  JUNIORS  6i 

however,  is  that  he  met  with  what  might  be  tenned  a 
conversion  in  Paris  in  the  year  1885  and  resolved  hence- 
forth to  devote  his  art  to  the  service  of  Christ.  He  there- 
fore went  to  Palestine,  lived  and  painted  there  for  ten 
years,  and  brought  back  a  wonderful  series  of  paintings. 
His  purpose  was  to  make  Christ  a  living  reality,  to  place 
him  in  his  own  country  and  show  him  against  the 
background  of  the  mountains  of  Judaea  and  the  hills  of 
Galilee.  The  religious  purpose  which  actuated  him  and 
which  to  a  certain  extent  shows  in  his  pictures  redeems 
the  art  from  being  commonplace;  in  fact,  at  times  Tissot 
almost  startles  us  by  his  appreciation  of  spiritual  values. 

But  the  chief  worth  of  his  pictures  lies  in  their  realism. 
From  the  wrinkled  and  twisted  hills  of  the  Judaean 
wilderness  where  John  preached,  to  the  Via  Dolorosa  and 
the  rock  of  Calvary,  he  is  presenting  us  with  Palestine, 
pure  and  undefiled:  the  very  contours  of  the  land  are 
there,  the  houses  of  stone,  the  rocky  wheat-fields,  the 
olive  orchards,  the  many-colored  men  and  women  that 
singly  and  in  groups  thread  its  devious  trails,  and  even 
the  specific  types  of  character  that  one  meets  to-day  in 
the  Holy  Land.  The  Tissot  pictures  are  almost  a  colored 
guidebook  to  Palestine,  so  comprehensively  and  so 
definitely  has  the  artist  selected  his  landscapes  and  his 
people.  His  work  is  therefore  exceedingly  valuable  for 
purposes  of  instruction  during  the  Junior  age,  for  it  cer- 
tainly does  give  a  touch  of  reality  to  the  Bible  stories  and 
creates  an  imagery,  which  is,  all  things  considered,  the 
most  satisfactory  that  has  yet  been  created.  The  land 
may  have  changed  somewhat  since  Bible  times,  and  the 
customs  a  good  deal,  but  at  least  no  one  would  mistake 
his  pictures  for  anything  else  than  Palestine. 

After  his  return  to  France  Tissot  was  persuaded  to 
illustrate  the  Old  Testament  in  a  similar  way.  This  task 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  V 
Sir  Edw.  J.  Poynter:  Joseph  Presents  Jacob  to  Pharaoh 

Ask  the  sharp  eyes  in  your  class  to  discover  the  following:  six 
lions,  four  cartouches  (ovals  containing  the  king's  name),  two  kinds 
of  fan,  a  fish  pond,  a  harp.  From  a  library  get  a  book  that  explains 
the  Egyptian  language— for  example.  Dwellers  on  the  Nile,  Budge; 
and  the  lists  of  kings'  names  in  Baedeker's  guidebook  to  Egypt — and 
see  if  the  class  can  find  the  meanings  of  any  of  the  characters  used 
in  the  decoration. 

The  dramatic  meeting  of  the  old  sheik  and  the  young  Pharaoh  is 
staged  in  an  open  porch  that  fronts  the  courtyard  of  the  palace.  The 
screen  wall  that  keeps  out  the  curious  eyes  of  the  world  is  sculptured 
and  painted  to  represent  a  hedge  of  lotus  flowers,  the  buds  and 
blossoms  standing  straight  and  tall  in  beautiful  symmetry  as  the  real 
ones  do  in  the  lake.  The  court  is  cooled  by  a  pool  of  water,  the  marble 
edge  of  which  appears  behind  Jacob's  robe,  and  it  is  decorated  and 
shaded  by  trees  planted  in  pots.  These  are  no  doubt  "almug"  trees 
such  as  Solomon's  navy  brought  from  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

The  details  of  decoration  are  those  that  are  everywhere  found  on 
Egyptian  temples  and  tombs.  See  the  great  pillars,  with  their  bands 
of  sculpture.  The  designs  were  first  engraved  in  the  stone;  then  the 
whole  was  covered  with  a  thin  coating  of  stucco  and  brilliantly 
painted.  On  the  pillar  behind  Pharaoh  you  can  see  the  blossoming 
lotus  on  the  lower  band,  the  symbols  of  immortal  life  on  the  third, 
the  king's  name  and  titles  on  the  upper.  The  Egyptians  were  fond 
of  decoration  and  used  color  more  lavishly  than  we  do.  The  chair  in 
which  the  king  sits  is  decorated  with  the  hawk-head  of  Horus,  the 
sun  god.  The  hawk,  with  outspread  wings,  appears  on  one  of  the 
fans  also.  The  painter  thus  reminds  us  that  Pharaoh  is  a  repre- 
sentative and  descendant  of  the  sun-god.  About  the  platform  on 
which  the  throne  rests,  stalks  a  procession  of  lions,  symbols  of  the 
majesty  of  the  king;  while  at  the  corner  is  the  double  cartouche 
containing  his  names.  The  canopy  over  the  king's  head  is  supported 
by  two  delicate  and  prettily  decorated  posts,  which  may  be  seen  just 
beyond  Joseph. 

Who  is  the  center  of  interest?  What  kind  of  person  is  Pharaoh? 
Read  the  Bible  story  in  Gen.  47.  i-io,  and  tell  what  question  Pharaoh 
has  just  asked?  What  is  Jacob  replying?  Why  should  Jacob  take 
hold  of  Joseph's  shoulder?  Why  should  Jacob  be  bold  enough  to 
look  the  great  Pharaoh  in  the  eye?  Why  should  Jacob  have  blessed 
Pharaoh,  and  not  Pharaoh  Jacob? 


62  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

he  began,  using  various  sketches  he  had  made  while  in 
Palestine,  and  before  he  died  he  had  completed  a  large 
part  of  the  Old  Testament.  Though  for  the  personages 
he  had  to  draw  more  upon  his  imagination  than  in  the 
New  Testament  series,  yet  it  is  surprising  to  discover  the 
amount  of  scholarship  that  went  into  the  making  of  his 
historic  backgrounds.  His  Egyptian  scenes  are  particu- 
larly fine;  evidently,  he  copied  his  types  and  his  costumes 
from  the  monuments  themselves.  His  pictures  of  the  old 
Hebrew  chiefs,  of  the  Canaanites,  and  even  of  the 
antediluvians,  are  wonderfully  vivid  and  serve  to  remind 
us  that  the  Old  Testament  characters  were  still  in  the 
half-civilized  stage. 

William  Holman  Hunt. — Hunt  was  also  a  reaHst 
who  visited  Palestine  four  times  and  who  made  it  a 
matter  of  conscience  to  paint  what  he  saw.  His  output 
is  small  compared  with  Tissot's  but  exceedingly  illuminat- 
ing. In  his  '^Triumph  of  the  Innocents"  the  background 
is  the  hills  not  far  from  Gaza,  the  donkey  is  a  portrait, 
the  carpenter's  tools  on  Joseph's  back  were  bought  by  the 
painter  in  Bethlehem,  Mary's  dress  was  a  Bethlehem 
woman's  costume.  So  in  his  "Shadow  of  the  Cross"  the 
tools  in  the  carpenter's  shop  were  all  painted  from  the 
object,  and  even  the  jewels  of  the  Magi  are  decorated 
with  motifs  from  Persepohs  and  Antioch. 

There  are  many  other  artists  of  the  nineteenth  century 
whose  backgrounds  can  be  trusted.  In  some  cases  the 
painters  went  to  Palestine,  in  others  they  studied  photo- 
graphs or  in  other  ways  known  to  antiquarians  and 
scholars  possessed  themselves  of  the  necessary  informa- 
tion. Their  pictures  are  therefore  doubly  valuable.  Not 
only  do  they  interpret  for  us  the  human  and  religious 
values  of  the  incident  they  portray,  but  they  put  the 
incident  back  into  its  correct  environment.     One  has 


PICTURES  FOR  JUNIORS  63 

nothing  to  unlearn  in  such  pictures,  even  though  one 
visits  Palestine.  The  following  artists  are  substantially 
accurate  in  their  backgrounds: 

Antonio  Ciseri,  Albert  von  Keller, 

F.  V.  du  Mond,  Edwin  Long, 

Eugene  Girardet,  Elimar  Piglhein, 

Arthur  Hacker,  Sir  Edward  Poynter, 

Ferdinand  von  Harrach,    Hendrik  Siemiradski, 
William  Hole,  W.  L.  Taylor. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  no  painter  previous 
to  the  nineteenth  century  or  previous  to  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century  has  given  us  this  historically 
accurate  background.  The  old  masters  used  their  fancy 
or  painted  contemporary  landscapes  indiscriminately  for 
backgrounds,  for  their  chief  interest  was  in  the  personages 
of  the  painting  or  in  the  truth  to  be  expressed.  Their 
emotions  and  thoughts  are  the  values  which  their  pictures 
embody.  Realism  in  this  geographical  and  historical 
sense  is  the  gift  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  use  of  photographs. — While  photographs  may 
not  be  regarded  as  works  of  art,  it  would  be  pedantic  to 
omit  some  mention  of  them  in  this  chapter.  Photographs 
are  an  extremely  valuable  adjunct  to  teaching;  but  to 
be  most  completely  valuable,  photographs  should  be  not 
merely  looked  at  but  studied.  In  preparation  for  teach- 
ing, a  teacher  should  go  over  the  various  photographs 
with  a  magnifying  glass  in  order  to  discover  all  the  minute 
details  that  can  possibly  be  of  service  in  illustrating  the 
story.  Ideally  the  best  method  is  to  use  not  a  photograph 
but  a  stereograph  and,  if  possible,  a  stereograph  that  has 
been  explained.^ 
The  use  of  photographs  in  class  is  somewhat  of  a 

1  See    the    Underwood   &   Underwood   series    (send    for   catalogue,    417    Fifth 
Avenue,  New  York). 


64  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

problem.  If  one  could  have  a  stereopticon,  pictures  could 
be  made  the  object  of  study  by  the  entire  class  and  all 
could  see  pretty  well;  but  if  one  has  only  a  single  small 
photograph  or  stereograph,  it  is  impossible  for  more  than 
three  or  four  to  get  anything  like  an  adequate  view  of  it. 
But  given  either  a  picture  on  the  screen  or  several  photo- 
graphs, a  teacher  would  perhaps  work  out  in  detail 
something  like  this '? 

Position  i6.  A  Samaritan  Woman  at  JacoVs  Well 

Do  you  see  the  mouth  of  the  well?  What  is  it  made 
of?  How  wide  is  it?  Does  the  stone  look  worn?  How 
deep  a  well  did  you  ever  see?  Was  the  water  cold?  Do 
you  know  how  deep  this  one  was?  (About  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet.)  Is  it  as  deep  now?  (About  seventy- 
five  now.)  Why  not?  Do  you  suppose  it  is  as  narrow  as 
this  all  the  way  down?  (It  is  fifteen  feet  around,  lower 
down.)  What  is  that  thing  in  the  corner  for?  To  whom 
does  the  jar  belong?  How  does  she  carry  it  when  empty? 
(On  its  side  on  her  head.)  How  when  full?  Whose  rope 
is  this?  Of  what  material  is  the  bucket  made?  At  what 
season  of  the  year  did  Jesus  come  here?  (John  4.  35.) 
Point  to  where  he  sat  down.  How  far  away  was  Sychar? 
Why  do  you  think  the  woman  came  so  far  for  water?  Do 
you  think  she  looked  and  dressed  like  the  women  you 
see  there  now?  What  impresses  you  about  her  costume? 
Point  to  where  you  think  Jesus  was  when  the  disciples 
came  back.  When  he  pointed  to  the  growing  "harvest" 
in  which  direction  did  he  point?  Point  that  direction 
yourself. 

Picture  journeys. — One  workable  device  with  pic- 
tures is  to  have  the  pupils  construct  picture  journeys  or 
illustrate  narratives  or  parables.   Suppose  the  lesson  is  on 


2  Abbreviated  from  William  Byron  Forbush:    Illuminated  Lessons  in  the  Life  of 
Jesus.     Underwood  and  Underwood. 


PICTURES  FOR  JUNIORS  65 

the  baptism  of  Jesus  and  the  members  of  the  class  are 
asked  to  write  in  their  own  words  a  brief  story.  Such  a 
narrative  may  be  illustrated  by  a  little  map  of  the  Jordan 
valley  with  the  traditional  site  of  the  baptism  indicated 
in  red  ink,  by  a  picture  of  the  Jordan  valley,  or  by  a 
picture  of  the  Jordan  at  the  traditional  place  of  baptism ; 
and  then  by  one  or  two  pictures  of  the  great  artists, 
beginning  perhaps  with  Giotto  and  ending  with  Tissot. 

It  would  naturally  be  a  considerable  task  to  select 
these  pictures  and  some  pupils  would  be  more  successful 
at  it  than  others.  Old  magazines  like  the  National  Geo- 
graphic, old  Sunday  school  quarterlies,  old  Bible  story 
books  the  bindings  of  which  are  worn  out  or  which  are 
otherwise  passe,  or  even  the  illustrated  booklets  of  tourist 
companies  will  furnish  material,  while  some  of  the  picture 
companies  mentioned  in  the  Preface  will  sell  reproduc- 
tions of  the  old  masters  and  in  some  cases  actual  views 
of  Palestine.  To  save  expense,  the  class  may  well  unite 
in  the  construction  of  a  narrative  of  the  life  of  Christ  or 
of  some  other  biblical  character,  in  which  the  picture 
gleanings  of  all  will  be  combined. 

The  school  equipment. — Every  Bible  school  should 
invest  enough  money  to  give  its  teachers  a  working 
equipment  of  realistic  pictures.  Perhaps  the  most  widely 
useful  as  well  as  the  most  expensive  is  a  collection  of  good 
lantern  sHdes.  A  set  of  one  hundred  well-chosen  views  is 
probably  sufficient  to  cover  the  essential  backgrounds  of 
the  stories  usually  taught  in  Bible  school.  Some  par- 
ticular teacher  should  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  master- 
ing this  collection,  reading  about  it  from  all  available 
sources,  comparing  pictures  with  printed  descriptions, 
and  so  in  a  way  becoming  an  authority  on  Palestinian 
backgrounds.  Naturally,  if  such  a  one  has  visited  Pales- 
tine, he  is  already  in  a  position  of  power,  but  a  fairly 


66  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

accurate  knowledge  of  Palestine  can  be  obtained  merely 
from  reading,  especially  using  such  books  as  the  fol- 
lowing: 

1.  George  Adam  Smith:  Historical  Geography  of  the 
Holy  Land.  Probably  the  best  and  certainly  the  most 
delightful  geography  book  ever  written  for  adults. 

2.  George  Adam  Smith:  Jertisalem  (two  volumes). 

3.  Ellsworth  Huntington:  Palestine  and  Its  Transfor- 
mation. 

4.  Laura  Wild:  Geographic  Backgrounds  for  Biblical 
Masterpieces. 

5.  Elihu  Grant:  Peasantry  of  Palestine, 

6.  Masterman:  Studies  in  Galilee. 

7.  Paton:  Jerusalem  in  Bible  Times. 

8.  The  Advance  of  the  Egyptian  Expeditionary  Force ^ 
191 7-18  (London,  Official  Record,  1919.   6  shillings.) 

For  list  of  pictures  adapted  to  Junior  grade  stories,  see 
under  Chapter  IV. 

Teaching  Material 

The  passion  for  reality. — According  to  your  expe- 
rience, at  what  age  do  boys  generally  lose  interest  in 
fairy  stories?  At  what  age  do  girls?  Make  a  list  of 
stories  found  most  useful  at  ten  years.  What  elements 
in  these  stories  differentiate  them  from  the  stories  of 
the  primary  age? 

The  art  interests  of  juniors. — According  to  your 
experience,  what  pictures  (by  title)  spontaneously  inter- 
est boys  and  girls  of  twelve?  What  other  pictures  can  be 
made  interesting  to  them?  Would  fuller  knowledge  on 
your  part  enable  you  to  use  pictures  more  widely  and 
effectively,  or,  in  your  judgment,  should  the  picture 
method  be  omitted  during  this  period?  What  exceptions 
to  the  statements  made  in  this  section  would  you  take? 


PICTURES  FOR  JUNIORS  67 

Realistic  art  in  religious  teaching. — If  your  Bible 
school  gives  a  biblical  play  or  a  pageant  during  the  year, 
use  Tissot's  pictures  as  a  source  book  for  costumes  and 
properties.  Look  up  and  report  on  a  complete  costume 
for  some  type  of  person  in  Palestine,  for  example:  a 
shepherd,  a  farmer,  a  village  woman,  a  village  chief,  a 
city  boy  or  girl,  a  priest,  a  high  priest,  a  Roman  soldier. 
Use  Tissot  for  a  basis  and  try  to  verify  your  findings  by 
consulting  other  artists  and  various  articles  in  the  biblical 
encyclopaedias.  Elihu  Grant's  Peasantry  of  Palestine  will 
be  found  useful. 

The  use  of  photographs. — Choose  a  fairly  detailed 
photograph  of  some  scene  in  Palestine.  Inform  yourself 
about  it  from  all  possible  sources,  then  make  up  a  series 
of  questions  and  comments  on  it  similar  to  Forbush's. 

Picture  journeys. — Try  out  with  your  class  or  by 
yourself  a  picture-journey  or  illustrated  Bible  narrative. 
What  result? 

The  school  equipment. — Report  on  the  equipment 
of  your  Bible  school  for  teaching  biblical  geography  and 
backgrounds. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  HERO  IN  ART 

It  is  understood  by  educators  and  by  parents  generally 
that  the  Junior  age  is  the  habit-forming  age.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  habits  are  formed  largely  by  the  repetition  of 
the  desirable  act.  When  the  brain  paths  have  been  worn 
with  sufficient  distinctness  and  depth  the  correct  mental 
and  physical  reaction  will  take  place  without  any  further 
attention.  This  expresses  some  of  the  truth  about  habit- 
formation,  especially  about  the  formation  of  physical 
habits.  But  when  it  comes  to  the  formation  of  habits 
of  thought,  spiritual  attitudes,  temperaments,  something 
besides  the  repetition  of  an  act  is  necessary.  An  ideal 
must  enter  in.  The  youth  must  see  and  love  certain  de- 
sirable ends  in  life,  certain  good  things,  certain  noble 
people.  These  supply  a  motive  for  the  practice  of  the  act 
or  attitude,  until  ideal  and  habit  both  together  become 
a  part  of  character. 

Training  by  hero-worship. — The  most  fruitful 
method  of  training  a  boy  or  girl  in  right  thinking 
and  right  living  is  to  utilize  the  so-called  instinct  of 
hero-worship — the  ^'predilection  for  demonstrated  great- 
ness." When  this  instinct  is  analyzed  it  is  seen  to 
rest  upon  the  inherent  tendency  to  identify  oneself 
with  the  chief  person  talked  about  or  admired.  If 
it  is  a  story  that  is  being  told,  the  hero  becomes  hero 
by  virtue  of  enlisting  the  sympathy  of  the  listener  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  listener  becomes  in  imagination 
the  hero  himself.  As  the  story  progresses  the  listener 
passes  through  all  the  phases  of  reflection  and  judgment 

68 


THE  HERO  IN  ART  69 

and  feeling  that  the  hero  himself  experiences.  Does  a 
difficulty  present  itself?  The  listener  is  puzzled  in 
advance  as  the  hero  is  about  the  proper  method  of  pro- 
cedure. Has  an  act  been  performed  by  some  other 
character  in  the  story?  Instantly  judgment  is  passed 
upon  it  and  the  response  frequently  comes  out  spon- 
taneously from  the  listener,  "That  wasn't  right."  "He 
ought  to  be  punished  for  that."  "That  is  what  I  would 
have  done." 

Imagination  and  sympathy  are  here  enlarging  the 
child's  experience.  Having  felt  with  the  hero,  passed 
through  trials  and  conquered  with  the  hero,  the  child 
knows  how  good  it  is  to  be  that  sort  of  person,  for  he 
has  now  experienced  the  beatitude  in  his  own  high  heart. 
The  memory  of  that  story  becomes  thereafter  a  constant 
incentive  to  high  living,  and,  as  many  persons  could 
testify,  has  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  boy  at  critical  points 
in  his  own  experience.  This,  of  course,  is  the  great 
justification  of  story-telling  and  the  great  argument  why 
stories  should  be  well  told,  powerfully  told,  and  worth 
being  told. 

The  pictured  hero. — Now  just  as  the  hearer  by 
imagination  and  sympathy  absorbs  the  personality  of 
the  recited  hero,  so  the  looker  absorbs  the  pictured 
hero.  There  is  this  added  advantage,  however:  with 
the  story-picture  the  imagery  produced  is  sharper  than 
that  which  is  aroused  by  the  words  of  the  story  alone. 
It  is  therefore  more  easily  recalled  and  more  permanent. 
Moreover,  with  this  sharpness  and  vividness  there  goes 
an  enhanced  feeling,  provided  only  that  when  the  story 
was  originally  presented  the  feeling  values  were  called 
forth.  It  is  therefore  possible  to  teach  morals,  to  incul- 
cate virtues,  and  strengthen  habits  just  as  surely  and 
effectively — perhaps  more  effectively — by  pictures  than 


70  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

by  the  spoken  word.  Only  the  picture  needs  a  skillful 
expositor  as  the  story  needs  a  skillful  teller. 

The  range  of  pictures  presented  by  art  for  exploitation 
in  this  field  is  enormous.  It  covers  the  whole  area  of 
mythology  and  of  history,  it  includes  scenes  from  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  from  church  history,  and  from 
literature.  Wherever  great  men  have  acted  nobly  there 
is  a  theme  for  the  artist,  and  wherever  artists  have  drawn 
vividly  there  is  material  for  the  teacher. 

The  hero  universal. — To  be  a  hero  one  must  embody 
certain  virtues  that  are  recognized  and  loved  the  world 
over.  Because  these  virtues  are  broadly  human  they 
are  found  in  all  countries  and  in  all  religions.  Gods  may 
be  heroes,  in  fact,  they  must  be  if  the  people  who  worship 
them  are  to  find  in  them  their  ideals.  For  Carlyle,  at 
least,  Odin  was  the  typical  hero-god,  one  who  called  forth 
the  admiration  of  men  by  his  feats  of  strength.  Horus 
was  for  the  Egyptians  a  type  of  divine  heroism  and  self- 
sacrifice,  because  he  fought  to  avenge  the  death  of  his 
father  Osiris,  even  losing  an  eye  in  the  contest.  Thence- 
forth the  "Horus  Eye,"  so  frequently  seen  in  Egyptian 
art,  became  one  of  the  Egyptians'  most  sacred  symbols. 
In  the  Hindu  faith  the  god  Siva  stands  for  a  similar  ideal 
— he  who  drank  the  world  poison  in  order  that  gods  and 
men  might  live. 

Semi-divine  creatures  of  all  mythologies  have  lived  in 
men's  imaginations  through  the  ages  because  they  were 
heroes.  The  Greek  Prometheus  is  the  favorite  type  of 
one  who  in  his  endeavor  to  help  men  defies  Fate  (Breton 
Riviere).  Of  this  heroic  principle — self-sacrificing  toil 
for  others — there  are  many  embodiments  in  history, 
literature,  and  art.  From  the  Greek,  Heracles,  Odysseus, 
and  most  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Iliad  at  some  moment  of 
their  career;  from  the  Hindu,  Arjuna  who  did  the  great 


THE  HERO  IN  ART  71 

penance;  from  Buddhistic  lore,  the  Buddha  himself; 
from  the  Bible,  Elijah  and  Paul;  from  the  Middle  Age, 
Roland,  Arthur  and  many  of  his  knights,  and  many  a 
great  and  many  a  humble  saint.  A  little  research  would 
extend  the  list  indefinitely. 

Other  virtues  besides  self-sacrifice  are  a  part  of  the 
composite  we  call  hero.  There  must  be  loyalty  to  some 
person  or  cause  or  principle  greater  than  oneself;  there 
must  be  courage  under  all  circumstances;  patience  under 
undeserved  and  unescapable  suffering;  self-conquest;  the 
resisting  of  temptation;  tenacity  of  purpose  when  the 
purpose  is  good;  in  general,  a  "strength  in  right  causes'* 
which,  according  to  Professor  Coe,  is  the  essence  of 
virtue  itself. 

To  find  illustrations  of  the  incarnation  of  all  these 
aspects  of  heroism  would  lead  us  far  afield.  Yet  the  task 
would  be  a  fascinating  one  and  would  serve  to  show  us 
how  widespread  is  virtue,  how  lovable,  how  noble,  and 
also  how  frequently  the  hero  has  been  the  inspiration  of 
art.  No  more  rewarding  study  could  be  undertaken 
with  groups  of  preadolescent  boys  and  girls  than  heroism 
as  it  has  been  depicted  by  the  great  artists  of  all  coun- 
tries through  the  centuries. 

A  hero  from  mythology. — To  take  a  sample  from 
the  realm  of  mythology:  Turner  has  a  powerful  picture 
in  the  National  Gallery,  London,  called  "Odysseus  De- 
riding Polyphemus."  One  has  to  hunt  for  both  characters 
in  the  picture,  for  Polyphemus  is  so  big  and  vague  that 
one  can  hardly  distinguish  him  from  the  mountain  and 
the  cloud,  while  Odysseus  is  so  small  that  were  it  not 
for  the  leading  lines  of  the  composition  and  for  the  fact 
that  his  mantle  is  flaming  red  he  would  be  quite  undis- 
covered on  the  lofty  stern  of  his  ship.  But  in  these  two 
figures  lies  a  part  of  the  message  of  the  epic.  Polyphemus 


72  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

was  huge  and  Odysseus  was  small.  It  had  been  a  contest 
of  bigness  and  brute  force  and  savage  inhospitality  with 
littleness  and  sharpness  of  wit  and  devotion  to  com- 
panions. And  now  as  the  sun  rises  out  of  the 
sea,  banishing  the  mists  of  the  morning,  arousing 
Zephyrus  to  fill  the  sails  that  the  sailors  are  shak- 
ing out  and  tingeing  with  hope  and  courage  the 
black  night  clouds  that  enshroud  the  ancient  enemy, 
Odysseus  sails  out  into  a  new  day.  The  night  is 
past,  the  danger  is  overcome,  the  enemy  has  been 
beaten  and  maimed;  and  the  courage  that  did  not 
shrink,  the  keen  mind  that  did  not  fail  in  its  resourceful- 
ness, and  the  stout  heart  that  did  not  lose  its  faith  in 
itself  or  its  divine  Friend  are  here  victorious.  You  can 
almost  hear  the  defiant  shout  of  Odysseus  as  he  turns 
and  shakes  his  fist  against  the  angry  giant.  ^'Cyclops! 
If  ever  mortal  man  asks  you  the  story  of  the  ugly  blind- 
ing of  your  eye,  say  that  Odysseus,  the  sacker  of  cities, 
made  you  blind."  The  picture  is  a  wonderful  embodi- 
ment of  the  Greek  ideal  of  intellect  and  courage  and 
devotion  to  companions  out  of  which  sprang  the  im- 
mortal history  of  Hellas. 

A  heroine  from  church  history. — Heroes  may  be 
found  for  all  occasions.  Is  the  question  that  of  the  Great 
Decision,  when  a  boy  or  girl  must  take  his  stand  for 
Christ  or  against  him?  Edwin  Long  has  a  picture  to 
meet  this  crisis — ''Christ  or  Diana" — a  picture  that 
makes  a  powerful  appeal  to  a  boy  or  girl.  On  the  one  side 
the  great  Arena  and  the  officials  that  represent  the 
majesty  of  Rome;  on  the  other  the  beautiful  Christian 
girl  who  is  asked  merely  to  sprinkle  a  little  salt  upon  the 
altar  as  an  act  of  worship.  Her  soldier  lover  whispers  in 
her  ear  urging  her  to  do  this  simple  thing,  while  the  roar 
of  the  wild  beasts  waiting  to  be  unshackled  adds  its 


THE  HERO  IN  ART  73 

argument  of  terror.  It  is  a  moment  of  indecision,  as  you 
can  see  by  the  face  and  eyes  of  the  heroine.  What  would 
you  do  under  these  circumstances?  What  ought  you  to 
do?  Will  you  love  or  despise  the  girl  if  she  refuses  to 
sprinkle  the  salt,  and  remains  true  to  her  Christian  vows? 
.  .  .  And  here  is  my  parallel  case.  What  shall  I  do  with 
this  Man  who  is  called  Christ? 

Heroes  from  mediaeval  legend. — There  are  scores 
of  mediaeval  legends  that  appeal  powerfully  to  youth  and 
that  have  been  nobly  illustrated  by  the  masters.  In  the 
Boston  Public  Library  Edwin  Abbey  has  presented  the 
"Grail  Legend"  with  wonderful  beauty  and  vividness. 
There  are  the  chief  personages  of  that  glorious  cycle  that 
has  enriched  the  imagination  of  boyhood  ever  since 
King  Arthur's  day.  There  is  the  vigil  of  Galahad  as  he 
watches  his  armor  at  the  crypt  of  the  nunnery  while  the 
sisters  hold  their  great  candles  in  silence  behind  him. 
There  is  the  trial  of  the  Siege  Perilous  when,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  white-winged  angel  throng  and  all  the  knights 
of  the  Table  Round,  Merlin  and  the  great  king  watch  the 
youthful  Galahad  approach  the  seat  of  testing.  There  is 
that  martial  picture  of  all  the  knights  of  Arthur's  table 
clad  in  full  armor,  each  with  his  mystic  standard  on  his 
lance,  kneeling  in  the  church  while  they  consummate 
their  vows  to  follow  the  Holy  Grail.  All  the  spirit  of 
chivalry  and  romance  is  compressed  in  these  masterful 
paintings;  and  whether  the  boyish  ideal  is  Launcelot  or 
Galahad  or  Arthur  or  Merlin,  he  can  find  here  not  only 
food  for  the  imagination,  but  powerful  stirrings  of  the 
spirit  toward  the  knightly  virtues  which  they  embody: 

"To  reverence  the  King  as  if  he  were 
Their  conscience,  and  their  conscience  as  their  King, 
To  break  the  heathen  and  uphold  the  Christ, 
To  ride  abroad  redressing  human  wrongs, 


74  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

To  speak  no  slander,  no,  nor  listen  to  it, 
To  honor  his  own  word  as  if  his  God's, 
To  live  sweet  lives  in  purest  chastity. 
To  love  one  maiden  only,  cleave  to  her 
And  worship  her  by  years  of  noble  deeds 
Until  they  won  her." 

There  is  a  beautiful  picture  by  Brickdale  that  ought  to 
appeal  powerfully  to  Boy  Scouts.  It  is  the  picture  of 
"St.  Christopher,"  a  sort  of  glorified  commentary  on  that 
article  in  the  Scout  Law  "Do  a  good  turn  every  day." 
Every  boy  knows  the  story  of  how  Christopher  vowed  to 
serve  the  strongest  man  in  all  the  world  and  was  brought 
by  progressive  eliminations  to  serve  at  last  the  Christ  by 
carrying  pilgrims  over  the  mountain  stream  that  led  to 
a  shrine.  One  fearful  night  when  Christopher  was  an  old 
man  came  the  call  to  carry  a  small  lad  over  the  raging 
torrent;  and  when  the  good  man  had  brought  his  burden 
over  after  infinite  pain  and  danger,  and  had  "set  the 
child  down  safely  and  gently,  he  looked  upon  him  with 
astonishment  and  said,  *Who  art  thou,  child,  that  hath 
placed  me  in  such  extreme  peril?  Had  I  carried  the  whole 
world  on  my  shoulders,  the  burden  had  not  been  heavier!* 
And  the  child  replied,  'Wonder  not,  Christopher,  for 
thou  hast  not  only  borne  the  world,  but  Him  who  made 
the  world,  upon  thy  shoulders.  Me  wouldst  thou  serve 
in  this  thy  work  of  charity:  and  behold  I  have  accepted 
thy  service.'   Then  the  miraculous  child  vanished." 

Even  a  boy  can  be  led  to  appreciate  the  wonderful 
allegory  of  this  picture,  and  the  picture  can  glorify  for 
him  for  many  a  day  the  humble  deed  of  service  cheerfully 
done  for  the  sake  of  an  ideal. 

Heroines  from  history. — For  a  good  many  years 
teachers  have  played  up  heroes  for  boys,  but  they  have 
done  a  good  deal  less  to  discover  heroines  for  girls.  Girls 


THE  HERO  IN  ART  75 

are  abject  hero-worshipers;  they  worship  with  an  in- 
tensity unknown  to  boys,  and  a  ''crush"  is  one  of  the 
normal  phenomena  of  their  adolescence.  Not  all  girls 
will  choose  heroines  wisely — as  who  does?  It  is  our 
privilege,  therefore,  to  ignore  with  them  the  heroines  of 
the  mirror,  the  puff,  the  dance,  the  screen,  and  even  of 
the  woman's  club  and  the  professor's  chair,  and  to 
magnify  the  heroines  of  true  and  lofty  attainment, 
women  who  have  devoted  great  gifts  to  some  absorbing 
task  and  left  their  stamp  upon  the  world. 

History  furnishes  many  noble  examples,  from  the 
Virgin  Mary  to  Edith  Cavell :  great  lovers  and  saints  like 
Paula,  Heloise,  Saint  Theresa;  wonderful  mothers  like 
Monica,  mother  of  Augustine;  Blanche  of  Castile,  mother 
of  Saint  Louis;  Osburga,  mother  of  Alfred  the  Great; 
Susanna,  mother  of  the  Wesleys;  great  rulers  like  the 
Empress  Theodora  and  the  Countess  Matilda;  angels  of 
mercy  like  Florence  Nightingale. 

One  of  the  heroines  best  suited  to  the  religious  needs 
of  adolescent  girls  is  Joan  of  Arc,  for  she  represents  com- 
plete surrender  to  the  divine  Voice  that  calls  to  service. 
Pictures  are  abundant.  Bastien-Lepage  has  presented 
her  most  appealingly  as  she  stands  under  the  "fairy  tree," 
her  soul  intent  on  the  call  that  meant  for  her  such  self- 
surrender  and  such  heroism.  Maillart^  has  visualized  for 
us  the  Voices  as  three  beautiful  angels.  Wagrez^  pictures 
them  as  presenting  to  the  shrinking  maid  a  vision  of 
herself  in  full  armor.  Doyen^  shows  Joan  kneeling  to  con- 
secrate herself  and  her  arms  to  the  great  cause.  Ingres^ 
shows  her  at  the  altar  while  her  soldiers  kneel  behind 
her.  Scherrer^  gives  her  entry  into  Orleans.  Lenepvue^ 
shows  a  variety  of  incidents — the  Voices,  the  storming  of 
Orleans,  the  coronation  at  Rheims,  the  martyrdom. 

^  Photos,  Braun  et  Cie.,  New  York. 


Lenepviie:  The  Vision  of  Joan  of  Arc 
The  Pantheon,  Paris 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  VI 
Lenepvue:  The  Vision  of  Joan  of  Arc.  The  Pantheon,  Paris 

Joan  stands  under  the  "faery  tree"  in  front  of  her  home  in  Dom- 
reray.  What  details  suggest  her  early  environment?  What  does  the 
distaff  indicate  of  her  character?  What  does  the  dropped  spindle 
show?  What  is  she  looking  at?  Why  are  not  the  other  people  in  the 
picture  aware  of  what  is  going  on?  The  upper  left-hand  spirit  in  the 
tree  has  a  palm  branch.  Why?  The  one  on  the  right  has  her  hands 
folded  in  prayer  or  adoration.  Why?  The  angel  whispering  in  Joan's 
ear  points  forward  with  one  hand  and  presents  with  the  other  a 
sword  so  that  Joan  can  easily  grasp  it.  Write  out  what  the  angel  is 
saying.  Read  the  account  of  this  incident  in  Mark  Twain :  Personal 
Recollections  of  Joan  of  Arc,  Chapters  II  and  VI.  (Not  a  humorous 
work.)  Harper,  1898. 

Was  Joan  really  called  of  heaven?  From  the  modern  psychological 
viewpoint,  how  would  you  explain  her  "voices"?  Are  the  mediaeval 
and  modem  explanations  antagonistic?  Explain  in  both  the  religious 
and  scientific  way  the  call  of  Abraham,  of  Moses,  of  Isaiah,  of  Jesus 
at  his  baptism,  Paul,  Augustine,  Saint  Francis,  John  Bunyan,  or  the 
painter  Tissot.  Just  what  is  "being  called"?  Were  you  ever  "called"? 
Did  anyone  ever  do  a  great  work  for  humanity  without  being  called? 
May  one  be  called  and  yet  fail  to  do  a  great  work? 

What  constitutes  the  real  greatness  of  Joan?  Is  this  form  of  great- 
ness beyond  your  reach?  If  you  were  convinced  that  all  of  your 
noble  impulses  were  sent  direct  from  heaven,  what  would  be  the 
consequences  in  your  acts  and  character?   Are  they  so  sent? 


76  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Even  though  the  military  ideal  is  as  foreign  to  a  modern 
girl  as  it  was  to  Joan,  the  religious  ideal  that  was  the 
inspiration  of  her  militancy  is  precisely  what  the  twen- 
tieth century  needs.  The  story  of  her  call  and  surrender 
to  the  divine  will,  identical  in  essence  with  the  call  of 
Moses,  Isaiah,  Jesus  and  Paul,  is  to-day  as  powerful  to 
shape  the  life  of  American  girlhood  as  it  ever  was  and 
still  is  in  France. 

Further  suggestions. — Many  of  the  pictures  listed 
below  do  not  rise  above  the  level  of  illustrations.  Yet 
they  strengthen  the  appeal  of  the  story — help  in  the 
visualization  and  add  to  the  emotional  reaction.  The 
following  books  will  give  references  to  further  material 
in  their  respective  fields: 

Julia  Addison:  Classic  Myths  in  Art  (Page.  1910.  Illus.) 

Clara  E.  Clement:  Heroines  of  the  Bible  in  Art.  (Page. 
1900.  Illus.) 

Noble  and  Coomaraswamy:  Myths  of  the  Hindus  and 
Buddhists  (1914) : 

"The  god  Siva  Drinking  the  World  Poison,'^  pp.  314- 
316. 

"Arjuna's  Penance,"  p.  166;  also  V.  A.  Smith:  History 
of  Fine  Arts  in  India  and  Ceylon,  pp.  220-221. 

"Yudhishthira  and  His  Dog,"  pp.  210-216. 

"Death  of  Bhisma,"  pp.  191-196. 

"Hanuman  the  Monkey-God,"  pp.  21-22,  64,  72,  78. 

"Buddha  Attaining  Enlightenment,"  frontispiece. 

"Buddha  as  Mendicant,"  p.  276. 

"Rama  and  Sita,"  hero  and  heroine  of  the  East  Indian 
Epic,  the  Ramayana.  These  characters  still  mold  the 
ideals  of  Indian  boys  and  girls.  For  a  condensed  account, 
see  pp.  23-117.  For  pictures,  see  pp.  122,  128,  166,  188, 
212,  220;  also  E.  O.  Martin:  The  Gods  of  India  (1914), 
pp.  1 18-129. 


THE  HERO  IN  ART  77 

King  Arthur  and  his  Round  Table: 

Edwin  Abbey:  The  Quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.  Boston 
Public  Library. 

Illustrated  editions.  ^Le  Morte  D^ Arthur,  by  Sir 
Thomas  Malory  (4  vols.).  The  Medici  Society,  London. 
1901.  Fine  colored  plates  by  W.  Russell  Flint  (very 
expensive). 

Text  and  illustrations  in  black  and  white  by  Howard 
Pyle  (Scribners) : 

"King  Arthur  and  his  Knights." 

"Champions  of  the  Round  Table." 

"Sir  Launcelot  and  his  Companions." 

"The  Grail  and  the  Passing  of  Arthur." 

Henry  Gilbert:  King  Arthu/s  Knights.  Illustrated  by 
Walter  Crane  (Stokes,  191 7). 

Sidney  Lanier:  The  Boys'  King  Arthur .  ^Illustrated 
by  N.  C.  Wyeth  (Scribners,  1919). 

John  Bunyan:  Pilgrim's  Progress.  Illustrated  by  the 
Rhead  Bros.    (The  Century  Co.,  1898). 

Robin  Hood.  ^Illustrated  by  N.  C.  Wyeth  (McKay, 
1917). 

Peggy  Webling:  Saints  and  Their  Stories.  Illustrated 
by  Gayley  Robinson  (Stokes,  1920). 

Nathaniel  Hawthorne:  Wonder  Book.  Illustrated  by 
Maxfield  Parrish  (Duffield,  19 19). 

William  Hole:  Life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  80  Pictures 
(Eyre  and  Spottiswoode,  London,  191 2).  Descriptive 
prefaces  by  Archdeacon  Wm.  Sinclair  and  Professor 
George  Adam  Smith. 

Watts:    Sir  Galahad  (Eton  College  Chapel). 

Puvis  de  Chavannes:  History  of  Ste.  Genivieve  (Pan- 
theon, Paris). 

Brozik:  The  Condemnation  of  John  Huss. 

*  Especially  fine. 


78  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Teaching  Material 

Training  by  hero-worship. — What  heroes  or  hero- 
ines did  you  have  as  a  child?  In  what  ways  did  they 
influence  your  thinking  or  your  conduct?  List  the  heroes 
of  the  boys  and  girls  with  whom  you  have  to  do. 

The  pictured  hero. — Did  you  ever  find  any  of  your 
heroes  represented  in  art?  Take  the  list  of  heroes  as- 
sembled under  the  previous  section  and  discover  by  any 
means  at  your  command  which  of  them  have  been 
adequately  presented  by  artists. 

The  hero  universaL — Add  to  your  Hst  of  hero- 
stories  a  new  series — say  from  India — and  study  any 
illustrations  you  can  find,  with  a  view  to  teaching  by 
means  of  them.  Try  out  the  story  at  your  first  oppor- 
tunity, and  report.  Did  you  discover  new  virtues,  or  a 
new  setting  for  old  ones? 

A  hero  from  mythology. — Find  illustrations  of  your 
favorite  mythological  hero  and  work  out  a  story  based 
thereon. 

A  heroine  from  church  history. — Do  the  same  with 
a  striking  heroine  from  church  history. 

Heroes  from  mediaeval  legend. — Do  the  same  with 
a  hero  from  mediaeval  legend. 

Heroines  from  history. — Do  the  same  with  a  heroine 
from  history. 

Further  suggestions. — Find  out  what  history  your 
young  people  are  studying  in  school;  look  up  any  his- 
torical paintings  that  embody  events  in  that  history;  in 
an  "evening  at  home"  have  a  session  in  which  the  artist 
may  vivify  the  past  for  this  group.  Report  on  the  result. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ART  AND  THE  ADOLESCENT: 
THE  INTELLECT 

There  are  many  reasons  why  art  should  make  a  strong 
appeal  to  the  adolescent.  During  these  momentous  years 
there  is  greater  sensitivity  and  power  to  grasp  the  details 
of  a  picture;  a  marked  increase  of  capacity  to  discover 
meanings — to  feel;  and  a  particular  responsiveness  to 
spiritual  suggestion.  Yet  in  spite  of  their  new  capacity 
to  appreciate,  it  is  unusual  to  find  young  people  who  are 
really  interested  in  pictures.  The  cause  lies  in  an  almost 
entire  lack  of  guidance.  Nobody  has  taken  it  upon  him- 
self to  tell  young  people  what  to  look  for  in  a  picture; 
or,  rather,  the  books  on  art  interpretation  make  less  of 
the  message  of  the  artist  and  more  of  his  technique — his 
mannerisms  in  expression.  The  next  two  chapters  will 
show  what  aspects  of  religious  art  may  be  made  in- 
telligible and  helpful  to  adolescents. 

The  dawning  of  adolescence. — Adolescence  dawns 
much  as  the  day  dawns,  slowly,  almost  imperceptibly, 
until  at  last  with  a  rush  up  comes  the  sun.  The  instincts 
which  come  to  the  surface  in  adolescence  have  existed  all 
along  in  embryo  and  some  of  them  have  been  manifesting 
themselves  with  increasing  force  during  the  few  years 
preceding  the  great  change.  But  there  is  from  thirteen 
to  sLxteen  a  decided  transformation  which  all  teachers 
and  parents  recognize. 

The  books  of  psychology  and  pedagogy  are  full  of  it. 
In  briefest  form  one  may  say  that  in  this  period  all  of  the 
instincts  ripen  to  completeness.    The  associative  ap- 

79 


8o  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

paratus  in  the  brain  and  nervous  centers  now  comes  to 
full  working  capacity,  and  the  reasoning  faculties  assert 
themselves  with  new  power.  These  biologic  changes  are 
the  signal  for  an  intellectual  renaissance.  The  mind  is 
ready  for  the  world  and  the  mind  proceeds  to  discover 
the  world.  And  it  discovers  not  only  the  external  world 
as  revealed  by  science  but  the  inner  world  as  revealed  by 
philosophy  and  religion. 

Previous  to  this  neither  one  has  existed  in  the  way  of 
personal  appreciation  and  grasp.  The  external  world  was 
what  you  saw  every  day,  the  internal  world  was  what 
you  felt.  But  now  the  external  world  becomes  vastly 
larger  and  is  perceived  to  be  highly  organized,  to  be,  in 
fact,  an  organism,  the  nature  of  which  it  is  the  business 
of  science  to  find  out  and  to  manipulate  for  human  ends, 
while  the  inner  world  suddenly  opens  up  to  the  personal 
consciousness  with  an  intimacy  and  a  meaning  of  which 
the  mind  and  heart  of  childhood  never  even  faintly 
dreamed.  Adolescence  is  a  great  voyage  of  discovery,  a 
great  adventure. 

The  interest  in  belief. — Childhood  is  not  much  con- 
cerned about  beliefs.  Many  things  are  believed  because 
people  relate  them,  especially  because  parents  relate 
them.  The  apparatus  is  not  yet  developed  nor  has  ex- 
perience sufficiently  accumulated  to  weigh  evidence  and 
to  decide  what  is  worthy  of  belief  and  what  is  not.  But 
with  adolescence  comes  this  new  power  and  this  new 
instinct,  the  instinct  to  weigh,  to  accept,  to  reject. 
Especially  is  this  true  in  matters  of  the  spirit.  Coincident 
with  the  personalizing  of  religion  is  the  tendency  to 
investigate  religion  and  almost  invariably  the  investiga- 
tion takes  at  first  the  form  of  rejection.  "I  do  not 
believe  it"  is  the  usual  way  of  announcing  the  fact  that 
the  subject  is  being  thought  about. 


THE  INTELLECT  8i 

This  is  a  perfectly  healthy  process  and  should  be  rec- 
ognized as  such  by  all  teachers.  Disbelief  is  a  challenge 
to  both  teacher  and  pupil.  To  the  pupil  it  is  a  challenge 
to  prove  his  disbelief  on  grounds  that  an  adult  will 
accept.  To  the  teacher  it  is  a  challenge  to  lead  the  youth 
into  right  belief,  perhaps  through  the  expedient  of  tem- 
porarily accepting  negation  and  letting  the  youth  see 
how  it  will  work  out  in  theory  and  in  practice.  But  how- 
ever the  situation  is  dealt  with,  the  fact  remains  that  the 
youth  is  under  the  necessity  of  establishing  intellectual 
concepts  in  the  field  of  ethics  and  religion.  His  intellec- 
tual salvation  depends  upon  it.  Some  day  he  will  be  a 
man.  He  must  know  what  he  believes  and  be  able  to 
give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  him. 

Art  is  a  most  admirable  instrument  for  teaching  re- 
ligious truth.  It  is  an  instrument  that  has  been  used  in 
the  past  by  the  church  for  the  purpose  of  helping  people 
to  arrive  at  definite  beliefs.  It  is  not  so  used  to-day,  but 
it  should  be  restored  to  its  teaching  function. 

The  historic  use  of  art  as  religious  propaganda. — It 
is  interesting  to  follow  the  course  of  dogmatic  art  through 
the  Christian  centuries.  In  the  catacombs  and  other  early 
Christian  structures,  art-forms  were  used  largely  to  iden- 
tify persons  as  Christians.  On  the  cofiins  and  grave 
stones  were  placed  the  mystic  signs  which  the  brethren 
could  interpret  but  which  were  meaningless  to  others  (see 
Chapter  III,  following  page  39) .  On  the  walls  of  churches 
there  blazed  in  Later  Byzantine  times  the  symbols  of 
orthodoxy.  These  forms  of  art  are  still  useful  as  subjects 
of  discussion.  Does  the  mystic  fish — the  I-Ch-Th-U-S — 
still  mean  for  us  that  Jesus  Christ  is  God's  Son,  our 
Saviour?  Does  the  vine  with  its  branches  and  fruit  stand 
for  a  vital  religious  experience?  In  what  sense  is  Christ 
the  Alpha  and  the  Omega?  Do  three  intertwined  circles 


82  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

express  anything  vital  in  modern  religious  thought?  Has 
the  Lamb  lost  significance  for  the  twentieth  century  or 
is  there  still  truth  in  the  sacrificial  aspect  of  salvation? 
The  ancient  symbols  may  certainly  become  points  of 
departure  for  a  theological  discussion  of  real  import. 

There  are  other  mediaeval  expressions  of  creed  which 
may  well  be  examined  by  the  inquiring  mind.  Why  should 
there  be  such  a  continual  exaltation  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
in  religious  art?  Is  she  indeed  the  queen  of  heaven,  as 
most  artists  have  pictured  her?  Has  she  intercessory 
powers  with  Jesus  which  are  greater  than  our  own?  What 
instinct  in  the  human  heart  does  she  satisfy  that  no  one 
else  can?  Is  the  mediaeval  conception  of  the  imminence 
of  death  a  harmful  one,  and  therefore  should  such 
pictures  as  those  in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa  and  the 
various  "Triumphs  of  Death"  by  mediaeval  artists  be 
exhibited  to-day,  or  can  they  be  justified?  Such  ideas 
evidently  had  a  value  for  the  mediaeval  man,  and  such 
questions  can  be  answered  only  by  the  weighing  of 
spiritual  values.  If  adolescents  love  to  discuss,  here  is  a 
field. 

Then  there  is  the  historic  rivalry  between  the  Fran- 
ciscans and  the  Dominicans,  reflected  in  the  art  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  Take,  for  example,  the  Church  of  Saint 
Francis  at  Assisi  with  its  decorations  by  Orcagna,  Giotto, 
and  others.  Is  the  conception  of  the  Christian  life  there 
presented  a  true  and  valid  one,  with  its  emphasis  on  living 
the  life  rather  than  knowing  the  doctrine?  Or,  turning 
to  the  Spanish  Chapel  in  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria 
Novella  at  Florence,  shall  we  agree  that  the  descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  there  pictured  eventuated  in  doctrine 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  organization  of  the  church  on 
the  other;  that  Saint  Thomas  Aquinas  is  the  apex  of 
Christian  learning,  and  that  the  seven  sciences  of  the 


THE  INTELLECT  83 

Trivium  and  Quadrivium  are  the  true  materials  of  re- 
ligious education,  or  that  the  church  is  upheld  by  the 
militancy  of  the  Dominicans  while  heaven  is  peopled 
with  converts  from  heresy  and  irreligion  chiefly  by  their 
preaching? 

We  must  recall  too  that  art  was  summoned  to  serve 
the  church  at  the  period  of  its  greatest  degradation;  when 
humanist  Popes  like  Sixtus  IV,  Innocent  VIII,  Alexander 
IV,  Julius  II  and  Paul  III  were  heathen  at  heart,  as  were 
most  of  their  cardinals  and  the  high  officials  of  the 
hierarchy,  yet  sought  to  retain  their  hold  upon  the  im- 
agination and  the  loyalty  of  the  people  by  their  munifi- 
cent public  works,  by  chapels  like  the  Sistine  and 
churches  like  Saint  Peter's,  by  the  splendors  of  the 
Borgia  apartments  and  the  Stanze  of  Raphael  in  the 
Vatican. 

And  when  finally  the  great  schism  came  and  northern 
Europe  passed  out  from  under  the  Pope's  dominion  to 
establish  the  Protestant  faith,  when  the  church  in  her 
desperation  sought  for  some  means  of  winning  back  or 
holding  the  affection  of  the  common  people,  she  again 
turned  to  art  and  in  the  Jesuit  Counter-Reformation 
prescribed  the  dogmas  art  should  present  while  she  de- 
liberately appealed  to  the  sympathy  and  the  senti- 
mentality of  mankind,  even  in  melodramatic  fashion, 
through  the  paintings  of  the  Spanish  Ribera,  Zurbaran, 
and  Murillo,  the  Italian  Carlo  Dolce  and  Guido  Reni,  and 
the  Flemish  Rubens. 

Teaching  methods. — All  these  products  of  art  are  still 
valuable  as  teaching  material,  hut  the  teacher  must,  of 
course,  know  how  to  use  the  material.  The  picture  must 
first  of  all  be  understood,  its  purpose  and  meaning  must 
be  uncovered  and  made  plain,  and  then  when  the  par- 
ticular dogma  is  recognized  there  properly  follows  the 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  VII 
Unknown:  The  Church  Militant  and  Triumphant 
Spanish  Chapel,  Church  of  Santa  Maria  Novella,  Florence 

If  possible,  get  a  large  photograph  of  this  picture  in  order  to  see 
the  details.  The  picture  contains  two  sections:  the  upper,  heaven; 
the  lower,  the  earth. 

Heaven:  At  the  top,  Christ  is  enthroned  in  a  rainbow  and  against 
the  sun.  He  holds  a  book  and  keys.  What  do  these  signify?  Below 
his  feet  is  a  lamb  on  an  altar,  on  either  side  of  which  are  the  emblems 
of  the  four  evangelists  (angel,  lion,  ox,  eagle).  On  both  sides  of 
Christ  are  groups  of  angels.  The  Virgin  Mary  is  standing  in  the 
group  on  Christ's  right  hand. 

Below  this  upper  heaven,  on  the  left,  is  the  heaven  of  the  saved, 
the  entrance  to  which  is  an  arch.  Within  one  recognizes  various 
types  of  people,  nuns,  monks,  martyrs  and  Old  Testament  worthies. 
At  the  door  stands  Saint  Peter  with  his  keys,  assisted  by  two  shining 
ones.  Saved  souls  are  going  in.  They  are,  however,  very  diminutive, 
to  illustrate  the  Scripture,  "Except  ye  become  as  little  children,  etc." 

Earth:  The  right  central  portions  and  all  the  lower  register  picture 
the  earth.  In  front  of  Heaven's  gate  a  Dominican  monk  is  preaching 
and  turning  sinners  from  the  paths  of  worldly  pleasure.  The  pleasures 
are  suggested  by  the  boys  who  are  climbing  trees  for  their  fruit,  by 
the  four  large  figures  to  the  right  holding  a  musical  instrument,  a 
falcon  and  an  ape,  and  by  the  row  of  small  dancing  figures  below. 
In  the  bottom  row  other  monks,  including  Saint  Dominic  himself,  are 
preaching  and  teaching,  with  such  good  effect  that  some  of  the 
listeners  kneel  in  penitence  while  one  of  them  tears  up  his  heretical 
book.  The  animals  that  jump  about  in  the  lower  margin  are  sheep, 
wolves  springing  upon  them,  and  black  and  white  dogs  attacking  the 
wolves.  These  last  are  Domini  canes  (Dominicans)  "dogs  of  the 
Lord"  whose  special  business  it  is  to  guard  the  sheep  of  the  flock 
from  heresy  (Acts  20.  29).  A  group  of  rescued  lambs  may  be  seen 
lying  at  the  feet  of  the  Pope. 

The  lower  left  half  of  the  space  is  filled  with  a  picture  of  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Florence,  supporting  which  are  various  spiritual  and  temporal 
rulers:  the  Pope  with  cardinal  and  bishop  and  the  lower  ranks  of  the 
hierarchy  and  the  church  on  the  left ;  the  emperor  with  king  and  baron 
and  the  ranks  of  the  laity — chiefly  poets  and  artists — on  the  right. 

Consider  the  several  items  of  teaching  in  this  picture.  What  other ' 
**dogs  of  the  Lord"  are  there  besides  Dominicans?  Is  the  salvation 
the  monks  are  preaching  a  salvation  of  the  head  or  of  the  heart? 
Are  the  worldly  pleasures  here  depicted  sinful?  What  is  really  meant 
by  "Except  ye  become  as  little  children"?  The  nearness  of  the 
saved  group  to  the  cathedral  would  indicate  some  connection  in  the 
painter's  thought.  Is  it  true  that  to  be  in  the  church  is  the  same  as 
being  saved?  Is  it  true  that  the  church  owes  its  support  chiefly  to 
ecclesiastics,  rulers,  and  monks?  Has  it  ever  been  true?  Write  out 
a  complete  translation  of  this  picture — for  example,  "Christ,  who  is 
the  lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  whose  incarnation 
and  atonement  are  related  in  the  four  Gospels,  now  has  ascended 
into  his  glory  in  heaven,  where  he  receives  the  homage  of  angels  and 
men.  He  ofifers  to  all  salvation  through  the  Word,"  etc.  How  much 
of  this  statement  of  belief  is  true  for  you? 


84  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

discussion  of  the  truth  or  value  of  the  dogma.  The  dis- 
cussion brings  out  all  kinds  of  ideas,  some  crude  and 
some  true. 

Such  discussion  is  exceedingly  valuable  as  a  classroom 
method.  But  the  discussion  should  lead  somewhere,  and 
it  is  the  teacher's  function  gradually  to  eliminate  the 
half-truths  and  errors,  if  he  is  capable  of  doing  so,  and  to 
bring  the  class  at  last  to  full  truth  as  we  moderns  see  it. 
This  process  of  thinking  one's  way  through  a  mediaeval 
or  Renaissance  conception  to  a  modern  one  wonderfully 
clarifies  a  person's  ideas  and  leads  not  only  to  an  under- 
standing of  truth  but  to  an  appreciation  of  the  long  pro- 
cesses by  which  the  human  mind  has  reached  the 
truth. 

It  will  be  found  incidentally  that  there  is  a  great  deal 
of  dogmatic  material  in  Christian  art.  Almost  everything 
that  has  been  dogmatized  about  has  been  painted,  from 
the  triune  nature  of  the  Deity  down  to  the  most  recent 
decisions  of  the  church  councils — the  immaculate  con- 
ception of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  infallibility  of  the 
Pope.  But  the  emphasis,  of  course,  had  been  put,  through 
the  ages,  on  the  main  articles  of  the  Christian  creed,  on 
the  incarnation  and  the  atonement.  Previous  to  the 
Reformation  it  would  seem  as  if  fully  seventy-five  per 
cent  of  all  the  paintings  of  Christendom  exclusive  of 
virgins  and  holy  families  is  devoted  to  some  aspect  or 
other  of  these  two  primal  doctrines. 

The  Apostles'  Creed  interpreted  by  the  masters. — 
For  the  purpose  of  opening  up  this  general  field  it  seems 
best  to  include  in  this  chapter  a  list  of  pictures  that  are 
quite  worthy  of  use  in  the  discussion  of  doctrine.  Nat- 
urally, there  are  many  more  pictures  available.  Only 
those  in  which  the  meaning  is  fairly  clear  have  been 
suggested. 


Q 


THE  INTELLECT  85 

"I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  almighty,  Maker  of 

heaven  and  earth." 
Expressive  of  fatherly  function: 

Michelangelo  (Sistine  ceiling):  "The  Creation 
of  Adam,"  "The  Creation  of  Eve." 
Emphasizing  the  creative  function: 
Michelangelo  (Sistine  ceiling) :  "Creation  of  the 
Sun,"  "Creation  of  the  Moon." 

II.     "and  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son,  Our  Lord." 
Expressing  his  coordination  with  the  Father: 

H.  Van  Eyck:  "Adoration  of  the  Lamb,"  central 

upper  panel. 
Expressing  his  saving  work: 

H.  Van  Eyck:  "Adoration  of  the  Lamb,"  main 

picture. 

a,  "Who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Emphasizing  the  miraculous  side  of  the  event: 
Q       Fra  AngeHco :  "The  Annunciation"  (San  Marco) . 
Fra  Filippo  Lippi:  "The  Annunciation." 
Crivelli:  "The  Annunciation." 
Murillo:  "Immaculate  Conception." 
Emphasizing  the  human-spiritual  side: 
Rossetti:  "Ecce  Ancilla  Domini." 
Hacker:  "The  Annunciation." 

h.  "Born  of  the  Virgin  Mary." 

Emphasizing  the  dogmatic  side^  that  is,  the  incarna- 
^  tion  of  the  second  Person  of  the  Trinity: 

Van  Der  Goes:  "Adoration  of  the  Shepherds." 

Ghirlandaio:  "Nativity." 

Van  der  Weyden:  "Adoration  of  the  Wise  Men" 

(Munich). 


86  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Emphasizing  the  human  side: 
r  Von  Uhde :  "Nativity''  (Berlin  National  Gallery). 

Merson:  "The  Arrival  at  Bethlehem." 

Le  Rolle:  "Adoration  of  the  Shepherds." 
Emphasizing  the  mystical  and  allegorical  element: 

Burne- Jones:    "The    Nativity"    (Birmingham 

Church  Window). 

Burne- Jones:  "The  Star  of  Bethlehem." 

Edwin  Long:  "Anno  Domini." 

Merson:  "Repose  in  Egypt." 

Rape:  "Light  in  Egypt." 

Millais:  "Christ  in  the  House  of  His  Parents." 
Portraying  the  pomp  and  pageantry  of  the  Renais- 
sance: 

Gentile  da  Fabriano:  "Adoration  of  the  Elings." 

c.  "Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate." 

Ciseri:  "EcceHomo." 

Diirer:  Little  Passion  Series. 

Munkacsy:  "Christ  Before  Pilate." 

Schongauer:  "Christ  Before  Pilate." 

Guido  Reni:  "Ecce  Homo." 

Aertszen:  "Journey  to  Calvary"  (BerHn  Gallery). 

Beraud:   "Journey  to   Calvary"  (Paris  Salon, 

1894). 

Max:  "Veronica's  Handkerchief." 

Thiersch:  "Road  to  Calvary." 

Tiepolo:  "Journey  to  Calvary." 

Tintoretto:  "Journey  to  Calvary"  (S.  Rocco). 

d.  "Was  crucified." 

P       Fra  Angelico:  "The  Crucifixion"  (San  Marco). 

^       Bulldd:  "The  Crucifixion." 

Burne- Jones:   "Crucifixion"   (Window  at  Bir- 
mingham). 


THE  INTELLECT  87 

Carri^re:  "Christ  on  the  Cross." 

Rubens:  "The  Crucifixion"  (Antwerp  Museum). 

Piglhein:  "Mori tur  in  Deo." 

e.  "dead  and  buried." 

Rubens:  "Descent  from  the  Cross." 
^       Van  der  Weyden:  "Descent  from  the  Cross" 
(Prado). 

Titian:  "The  Pieta"  (Academy,  Venice). 
Ciseri:  "The  Entombment"  (Locarno). 
Piglhein:  "The  Entombment"  (Munich) 
Giotto:  "The  Pieta"  (Arena  Chapel). 

/.  "He  descended  into  Hell." 

Era  Angelico:  "Descent  into  Limbo." 
Skovgaard:  "Descent  into  Limbo"  (Zeitschrift 
fur  bildener  Kunst.    19:149). 

g.  "On  the  third  day  he  arose  again  from  the  dead." 
y   Unknown :  "The  Resurrection"  (Spanish  Chapel, 
ji  Florence). 

Ender:  "Holy  Women  at  the  Tomb"  (Molde). 

Giotto:  "Resurrection"  (Arena  Chapel). 

Diirer:  Greater  and  lesser  Passion  series. 

h.  "He  ascended  into  heaven  and  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty." 
Von  Uhde:  "Ascension." 
Durer:  "Adoration  of  the  Trinity"  (Vienna). 
Luca  della  Robbia  (relief) :  "Ascension"  (Cathe- 
dral, Florence). 

i.  "From  thence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the  quick  and 
the  dead." 
Era  Angelico:  "Last  Judgment"  (San  Marco, 
Florence). 


SS  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Unknown:   "Last  Judgment"    (Campo  Santo, 

Pisa). 

Michelangelo:  "Last  Judgment"  (Sistine  Chapel, 

Rome). 

III.  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Sargent,  J.  S.:  "The  Trinity"  (Boston  Public 
Library) . 

Van  der  Werff :  "Descent  of  the  Spirit  at  Pente- 
cost." 

IV.  "The  holy  Catholic  Church." 

Mosaic:  Tribune  Arch  and  Apse,  S.  Maria  in 
Trastevere,  Rome. 

Unknown:     The    Church    Militant     (Fresco, 
Spanish  chapel,  Florence). 

V.  "The  communion  of  saints." 

Hofmann:  "The  Omnipresence  of  Christ." 

VI.  "The  forgiveness  of  sins." 

Bume- Jones:  The  Tree  of  Life  (mosaic,  Ameri- 
can Church,  Rome). 
Justus  of  Ghent:  "Last  Supper." 

VII.  "The  resurrection  of  the  body  and  the  life  ever- 

lasting." 
See  any  "Last  Judgment." 

Teaching  Material 

The  dawning  of  adolescence. — Test  the  various 
statements  here  made  with  data  from  your  own  expe- 
rience and  observation.  At  what  age  did  a  given  boy 
or  girl  show  pleasure  in  mathematics,  physics,  politics, 
philosophy,  debating,  societies,  dress,  the  opposite  sex? 

The  interest  in  belief. — At  what  age  did  you  have 


THE  INTELLECT  89 

your  first  religious  doubts?  Did  you  undergo  a  period  of 
revolt,  and  at  what  age?  Did  you  ever  write  out  a  creed 
for  yourself,  and  at  what  age?  What  religious  topics 
interested  you  most  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and 
twenty?  Were  these  relatively  unimportant  or  funda- 
mental topics? 

The  historic  use  of  art  as  religious  propaganda. — 
Make  a  list  of  the  Christian  symbols  in  and  on  your 
church.  Do  any  of  these  express  ideas  that  you  hold? 
Are  any  of  them  at  variance  with  your  beliefs?  See 
further  directions  under  The  Apostles'  Creed. 

Teaching  methods. — Select  some  picture  from  the  list 
in  this  chapter,  and  on  some  Sunday  when  it  is  ap- 
propriate to  the  theme  of  the  lesson,  try  it  out  with  a 
full  class  discussion.  Does  the  picture  serve  as  a  better 
point  of  departure  than  a  mere  statement  would?  Do 
the  details  of  the  picture  challenge  attention  and  discus- 
sion? Does  the  picture  on  the  whole  represent  the  doc- 
trine in  the  form  we  to-day  hold? 

The  Apostles'  Creed  interpreted  by  the  masters. — 
From  the  list  of  pictures  given  in  this  section,  and  any 
others  (see  list  in  Bailey:  Art  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ , 
pp.  23-36),  select  the  one  that  best  illustrates  each 
article  of  the  Creed.  Are  there  other  articles  in  your 
creed  not  found  in  the  Apostles'  Creed?  Find  an  embodi- 
ment of  these  articles  in  art. 

Secure  enough  copies  of  the  Sargent  paintings^  in  the 
Boston  Public  Library  to  supply  your  class,  and  discuss 
to  what  extent,  if  any,  Sargent  has  misrepresented  the 
facts  of  the  Hebrew  and  the  Christian  religions. 

» J.  S.  Sargent:  Judaism  and  Christianity.  Reproduced  poorly  in  the  Handbook 
of  the  Boston  PubUc  Library,  35c.   ^ 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ART  AND  THE  ADOLESCENT: 
THE  EMOTIONS 

It  is  not  enough  that  an  adolescent  formulate  his  re- 
ligious beliefs.  Indeed,  they  are  not  his  beliefs  at  all  if 
he  merely  formulate  them.  Ideas  become  beliefs  when 
they  have  entered  into  the  organized  mental  Hfe,  have 
become  emotionalized  and  have  begun  to  operate  through 
the  will.  The  artist  has  found  a  means  by  which  an  idea 
may  thus  be  invested  with  warmth  and  power.  He 
incarnates  the  idea  in  a  person  and  makes  it  beautiful. 
Then  the  heart  of  youth  leaps  toward  it  and  appropriates 
it — provided  only  someone  brings  the  youth  and  the 
masterpiece  together. 

The  emotional  intensity  of  adolescence. — One  of 
the  outstanding  characteristics  of  the  adolescent  period 
is  emotional  intensity.  With  the  acquisition  of  full 
physical  power  comes  the  revelation  of  strong  moods. 
Words,  ideas,  situations,  arouse  reverberations  within, 
open  vistas  of  feeling  that  seem  to  lead  the  soul  out 
into  large  spaces  and  into  the  presence  of  ineffable 
glories  and  terrors.  A  new  eye  for  beauty  develops. 
Landscapes  which  were  unnoticed  in  childhood  now 
become  significant,  filled  with  wonder.  The  old  pastures 
where  the  boy  went  berrying  or  drove  the  cows,  in 
earlier  days  valued  simply  for  their  use,  now  are  seen 
to  be  wonderful  places.  There  are  morning  shadows, 
noonday  silences,  deep  glens  of  coolness  under  the 
pines  and  hemlocks,  strange  rustling  of  mystic  mes- 
sages in  the  leaves  of  the  oak.     It  is  not  that  these 

90 


THE  EMOTIONS  91 

things  never  existed  before,  but  they  were  never  per- 
ceived before.  The  individual  has  developed  a  new 
apparatus  for  the  detection  and  absorption  of  the 
world  of  emotion. 

It  is,  of  course,  a  truism  that  the  conversion  period 
falls  within  the  adolescent  age,  the  period  when  God 
is  seen  to  demand  personal  allegiance  and  when  there 
is  a  definite  choice  to  be  made  between  a  life  of  right- 
eousness and  a  life  of  sin.  Or,  if  one  has  been  brought 
up  by  the  newer  and  better  school,  so  that  conversion  ^ 
is  hardly  an  appropriate  term,  there  is  still  seen  to  be 
the  need  of  commitment  to  the  Christian  ideal.  That 
commitment  is  not  only  an  intellectual  but  an  emo- 
tional one,  the  consent  of  the  whole  being  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  universe.  The  great  compelling  forces 
of  this  period  in  the  religious  realm  are  not  intellectual 
but  emotional. 

Art  the  interpreter  of  emotion. — Now  it  happens 
that  art  is  the  visible  expression  of  emotion  and  that 
great  art  embodies  an  ideal.  Art  is  therefore  a  uniquely  \ 
fitting  medium  to  guide  and  ennoble  the  emotions  of 
youth.  It  is  the  emotional  intensity  of  art  that  cap- 
tures people.  If  a  picture  does  not  make  itself  felt  ■ 
at  once,  the  average  person  will  pass  it  by.  But  when 
once  the  individual  is  arrested  by  the  emotional  dynamic 
of  the  masterpiece,  he  pauses  and  reads  its  fuller  mes- 
sage. To  emotion  he  adds  thought  and  thought  leads 
him  back  again  to  a  higher  and  truer  emotion.  ^ 

Art  as  an  aid  to  worship. — Perception  of  this  psy- 
chological and  spiritual  truth  doubtless  led  the  early 
church  to  adorn  its  places  of  worship  with  all  the  beauty- 
devices  known  to  the  age.  In  fact,  so  strongly  was 
the  faith  in  these  objects  rooted  in  experience  that 
for  one  hundred  and  sixteen  years,  during  the  iconoclastic 


Hacker:   The  Annunciation 
Tate  Gallery,  London 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  VIII 
Hacker:  The  Annunciation 

A  large  part  of  the  impression  the  original  of  this  picture  makes 
is  lost  in  the  half-tone.  If  one  could  only  see  the  color!  the  ethereal 
blue  of  the  angel's  robe,  the  copper  glow  of  the  water  pitcher,  the 
dainty  green  of  the  grass,  the  radiance  of  the  early  spring  irises,  the 
strength  of  the  Syrian  sunlight  flooding  the  white  house  walls  till 
they  gleam  through  the  very  body  of  the  angel,  and  throwing  a 
sheen  upon  the  spotless  and  diaphanous  robes  of  the  Virgin.  The 
color  arrests  one  even  in  a  gallery  of  preeminent  color.  But  having 
been  arrested,  one  finds  shortly  a  deeper  source  of  emotion,  first  in 
the  intensity  of  the  angel,  who  seems  suddenly  to  have  whirled  down 
upon  this  daydreamer,  then  in  the  wondrous  mystic  shadows  in 
Mary's  eyes,  shadows  that  veil  her  thought  while  they  reveal  her 
emotion.  You  begin  to  love  this  sweet  girl,  so  young,  so  pure,  stand- 
ing here  in  the  midst  of  her  task  like  one  of  the  lilies  in  the  garden. 
And  then  you  realize  that  the  straight  clear  stalk  of  lily  the  angel  is 
holding  beside  her  is  nothing  but  a  translation  of  your  feeling  about 
her.  She  is  just  that,  though  she  knows  it  not,  an  opening  flower 
with  a  heart  of  gold.  What  could  man  or  God  want  more  in  a  girl 
of  sixteen? 


92  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

controversy  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries,  men 
defended  with  their  Hves  the  right  to  make  and  use 
sacred  images. 

Hence  in  the  churches  of  the  Eastern  rite  one  finds 
to-day  a  multipHcity  of  icons,  pictures  of  varying  merit, 
yet  all  of  them  embellished  with  whatever  would  tend 
to  call  forth  from  the  breast  of  the  worshiper  wonder 
and  admiration,  joy  and  worship.  In  the  churches  of 
the  Western  rite  every  altar  has  its  altarpiece,  the 
purpose  of  which  is  to  fix  the  attention  upon  the  person 
or  the  truth  or  the  incident  which  the  artist  has  me- 
morialized and  by  color  and  form  to  dramatize  and 
emotionalize  the  same. 

Our  Protestant  churches  have  unfortunately  broken 
with  all  this.  Fear  of  idolatry  on  the  part  of  our  an- 
cestors led  them  to  reject  beauty  from  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  But  to-day  the  call  is  clear  to  reintroduce 
art  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  elevate  and  purify 
and  discipline  the  emotions.  One  has  only  to  sit  for 
half  an  hour  in  the  room  in  Dresden  devoted  to  Raphael's 
''Sistine  Madonna"  in  order  to  prove  the  truth  just 
stated.  Every  visitor  is  hushed  as  he  enters.  The 
beauty  and  the  mystery  of  the  mother's  face,  the 
prophetic  prescience  on  the  face  of  the  child,  the  sug- 
gestion of  a  sublime  mystery  to  which  the  mother  has 
surrendered  herself  but  which  she  cannot  wholly  com- 
prehend, somehow  catch  and  fascinate  the  spirit  and 
lead  it  unwittingly  to  the  very  threshold  of  the  house 
of  prayer. 

Art  in  the  house  of  worship. — The  children  of  this 
world  are  wiser  in  their  day  and  generation  than  the 
children  of  light.  In  every  theatrical  performance  the 
emotional  effects  are  calculated  to  a  nicety.  The 
appeal  of  costume,  the  enthrallment  of  color,  the  witch- 


THE  EMOTIONS  93 

ery  of  light  and  darkness  are  all  counted  upon  to  key 
the  soul  of  the  beholder  to  precisely  that  pitch  of  emo- 
tion which  will  enable  it  to  perceive  and  receive  the 
message  of  the  actor,  be  the  message  good  or  bad. 
That  is  why  the  theater  has  such  a  tremendous  appeal, 
why  thousands  go  every  night  to  see  a  play  where 
dozens  go  to  listen  to  the  gospel.  As  the  small  boy 
said  to  his  pietistic  mother  after  his  first  experience 
at  the  theater,  "Oh  mother,  if  you'd  only  go  to  the 
theater  once  you'd  never  go  to  prayer  meeting  again 
as  long  as  you  live!" 

We  must  abandon  our  whitewashed  walls,  our  sten- 
ciled frescos,  our  plain  meetinghouse  windows,  the 
simplicity  that  passed  with  our  ancestors  for  godliness, 
and  revert  again,  at  least  in  some  measure,  to  those 
concomitants  of  worship  that  so  enthralled  Milton, 
"The  long  drawn  aisle  and  fretted  vault,"  "the  storied 
windows  richly  dight.  Casting  a  dim  religious  light." 
In  such  a  church  there  is  room  for  no  mood  except  the 
mood  of  worship.  The  frivolities  and  thoughtlessness 
of  life  will  be  left  outside. 

"Far  off  the  noises  of  the  world  retreat; 

The  loud  vociferations  of  the  street 

Become  an  indistinguishable  roar. 

So  as  I  enter  here  from  day  to  day, 

And  leave  my  burden  at  this  minster  gate, 
The  tiimult  of  the  world  disconsolate 

To  inarticulate  murmurs  dies  away 
While  the  eternal  ages  watch  and  wait." 

The  cultivation  of  sympathy. — Sympathy  usually 
carries  with  it  the  wrong  connotation.  We  limit  its 
use  almost  exclusively  to  the  expression  of  a  fellow 
feeling  for  one  who  is  in  sorrow.    As  a  matter  of  fact 


94  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

the  word  really  means  the  act  of  sharing  with  another 
any  emotion.  This  power  it  is  worth  our  while  to 
cultivate  because  it  is  the  key  of  social  understanding. 
It  leads  to  all  the  virtues  that  are  necessary  for  our 
highest  usefulness  in  a  world  made  up  of  people. 

Art  gives  us  an  opportunity  for  self  discipline  in  this 
regard,  also.  We  may  practice  feeling  our  way  into 
the  meaning  of  a  picture — which  implies  the  meaning 
of  the  human  situation — and  so  discipHne  ourselves 
for  the  understanding  of  situations  in  concrete  hfe. 
Practice  with  a  given  picture.  As  you  regard  intently 
any  figure  on  the  canvas  there  is  aroused  in  you  almost 
automatically  the  emotion  which  that  person  exhibits. 
You  unconsciously  imagine  yourself  in  his  situation, 
with  his  pose  and  facial  expression,  and  by  a  well- 
known  law  of  psychology  the  appropriate  feeling  will 
come;  in  a  flash  you  will  understand  what  the  artist 
means. 

Experiment  with  Keller's  picture,  "Raising  of  the 
Daughter  of  Jairus."  Put  yourself  in  Jairus's  place 
and  feel  the  anxiety,  the  reverence,  and  the  awe  with 
which  he  regards  this  act.  Assume  the  position  of  the 
woman  at  the  foot  of  the  bier  and  feel  her  hopeless 
grief.  Look  out  of  the  eyes  of  any  of  the  hired  mourn- 
ers and  feel  the  uncanny  fascination  of  seeing  a  corpse 
come  to  life.  Be  the  sweet  maiden  and  feel  yourself 
faltering  back  mysteriously  to  life  out  of  the  land  of 
a  fading  dream.  Be  Jesus,  and  realize  with  him  the 
serene  confidence  of  one  who  is  doing  the  Father's 
will,  and  the  joy  of  loving  and  helping  people. 

Pictures  are  addressed  primarily  to  the  emotions. 
Learn,  then,  to  understand  them  emotionally. 

Emotional  aspects  of  symbolism. — It  has  been  said 
in  the  previous  chapter  that  symbols  are  distinctively 


THE  EMOTIONS  95 

intellectual  in  character.  Yet  they  are  not  exclusively 
intellectual  but  may  have  at  times  an  emotional  con- 
tent, depending  on  the  experience  which  the  individual 
worshiper  brings  to  them.  One  may  pass  the  flag  of 
his  country  a  hundred  times  on  the  street  and  it  will 
arouse  no  particular  emotion,  but  let  him  catch  sight 
of  it  in  a  foreign  land,  particularly  in  some  time  of 
storm  and  stress,  or  let  him  realize  as  he  carries  the 
little  symbol  in  his  hand  that  his  life  depends  upon 
his  identification  for  the  moment  with  that  emblem 
of  his  country's  dignity  and  power;  then  he  will  under- 
stand how  a  mere  piece  of  bunting  may  be  surcharged 
with  a  tremendous  emotional  voltage. 

So  it  is  with  these  heart  symbols  which  have  become 
conventional  decorations  in  our  church  buildings. 
They  stand  upon  the  walls  and  in  the  windows,  mean- 
ingless for  the  most  part  because  no  one  attends  to 
them.  But  there  comes  a  time  when  a  worshiper  enters, 
bearing  in  his  heart  some  great  experience  whether 
of  sadness  or  of  exaltation,  and  he  suddenly  catches 
sight  of  this  commonplace  design,  the  Lamb  slain  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  the  cross  of  Calvary,  the 
anchor  "sure  and  steadfast,"  and  he  suddenly  realizes 
that  that  symbol  was  placed  there  for  him  and  for 
this  moment,  that  it  sums  up  all  that  his  unique  expe- 
rience really  means  and  links  his  individual  life  with 
the  life  and  purpose  of  God  himself.  Henceforth  that 
moment  is  transfigured  in  memory,  for  it  has  opened 
to  the  soul  a  new  and  deeper  revelation  of  the  meaning 
of  the  universe. 

Proper  art  environment. — While  the  adolescent 
may  have  these  various  types  of  emotional  experience, 
he  is  usually  unwilling  to  talk  about  them.  We  cannot 
make  the  emotional  values  of  art  the  subject  of  dis- 


96  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

cussion  except  to  a  limited  extent,  but  we  may  place 
before  our  young  people  the  noblest  examples  we  can 
find  of  emotionalized  art  in  the  hope  that  some  day 
as  the  youth  ripens  to  his  full  capacities  the  master- 
pieces may  catch  him  and  reveal  to  him  his  own  deeper 
self. 

This  is  why  we  ought  to  scrutinize  with  such  care 
the  pictures  that  hang  on  the  walls  of  our  homes,  our 
churches,  and  church  schoolrooms,  why  the  portrait 
of  the  beloved  pastor  that  may  be  valuable  for  his 
own  generation  but  meaningless  for  the  next  should 
give  place  to  those  works  of  permanent  beauty  that 
have  proved  their  power  to  enrich  and  refine  life  for 
many  generations.  That  is  why  modern  artists  in 
general  should  give  place  to  the  old  masters,  why  the 
story  picture  should  yield  to  the  picture  that  interprets 
a  mood  or  reveals  a  soul  in  action  at  some  supreme 
moment.  Place  on  the  walls  pictures  of  spiritual  in- 
tensity that  present  aspects  of  eternal  truth,  that 
stimulate  the  imagination  and  so  induce  our  young 
people  to  build  within  their  own  souls  that  supreme 
work  of  the  imagination,  the  Christian  ideal. 

The  artist  as  poet. — In  nineteenth-century  pictures 
we  are  apt  to  find  a  subtle  symbolism  in  which  objects 
suggest  memories  and  feelings  so  vague  that  at  first 
we  are  not  quite  sure  that  the  artist  intended  them, 
yet  finally  we  come  to  feel  that  these  emotions  and 
memories  are  the  real  picture.  A  good  illustration  of 
this  poetic  suggestiveness  is  Merson's  ''Repose  in 
Egypt."  The  Bible  does  not  say  that  Mary  and  Jesus 
ever  rested  in  the  arms  of  the  sphinx;  we  are  at  once, 
then,  in  the  realm  of  fancy.  This  is  immemorial  Egypt, 
the  land  of  mystery — for  there  are  the  river,  the  desert, 
the  sky  and  the  sphinx;  yet  it  is  not  Egypt — for  the 


THE  EMOTIONS  97 

sphinx  is  not  that  of  Kephren,  neither  is  the  landscape 
that  of  the  Kephren's  sphinx.  Why  is  the  night  air 
so  still?  Why  is  the  questioning  face  of  the  sphinx 
upturned  to  the  moon  in  mute  appeal?  Why  the  broken 
beard  and  the  drifted  sand?  Why  the  little  child  bathed 
with  the  mystical  orange  light,  lying  close  against 
the  heart  of  the  inscrutable  creature? 

As  you  ponder  these  questions  there  comes  to  your 
mind  the  sphinx  of  the  (Edipus  myth,  with  its  riddle — 
the  world-old  question  about  man;  and  you  recall 
also  the  sphinx-poem  of  Emerson.  And  as  you  ponder 
the  mystery  of  man  in  the  light  of  the  suggestions 
in  the  picture,  you  begin  to  feel  that  the  waiting  night 
and  the  two  infinities  of  the  sky  and  the  desert  may 
be  the  mysteries  that  bound  the  frontiers  of  man's 
tiny  life,  the  mysteries  of  the  Whence  and  Whither, 
and  that  the  riddle  of  man  can  be  explained  only  as 
we  understand  what  Merson  has  placed  in  the  focus 
of  this  subtle  composition — this  little  child  in  whom 
God  and  man  have  met.  This  whole  picture  is  a  sym- 
bol, a  symbol  not  to  be  fully  understood  and  explained 
to  another,  but  a  symbol  to  be  dreamed  about  and  felt. 

List  of  pictures,  containing  valuable  emotional  alle- 
gorical and  symbolical  elements: 
Alma-Tadema:  "The  Lord  Slays  the  First-born." 
Bacon:  '^Christ  in  Gethsemane." 
Bouguereau:  "Compassion." 
Burne- Jones:  "Morning  of  the  Resurrection." 
Burne- Jones:  "Nativity"  (Window,  Birmingham). 
Burne- Jones:  "Crucifixion"  (Window,  Birmingham). 
Burne- Jones:  "The  Tree  of  Life"   (Mosaic,  American 

Church,  Rome). 
Burne- Jones:  "Star  of  Bethlehem." 
Burton,  W.  S.:  "The  World's  Ingratitude." 


98  ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Carri^re:  "Crucifixion." 

Constant,  Benj.:  "Arrest  of  Jesus  on  Mount  of  Olives." 

Cornicelius:  "Temptation  of  Christ." 

Dagnan-Bouveret:  "Madonna  of  the  Shop." 

Dagnan-Bouveret:  "Disciples  at  Emmaus." 

Da  Vinci:  "Last  Supper." 

Da  Vinci:  "Study  of  the  Head  of  Christ." 

Dietrich:  "Christ  Healing  the  Afflicted." 

Dollman:  "Judas  Iscariot." 

Ehrler,  Max:  "Angel  of  Mortality"  (Psa.  90). 

Firle,  W.:  "Der  Glaube." 

Gebhardt,  von:  "The  Raising  of  Lazarus." 

Gerome:  "Golgotha." 

Hacker:  "Christ  and  the  Magdalene." 

Hacker:  "And  There  Was  a  Great  Cry." 

Hunt,  Holman:  "Light  of  the  World." 

Hunt,  Holman:  "Shadow  of  Death." 

Hunt,  Holman:  "Triumph  of  the  Innocents." 

Jacomb-Hood:  "Raising  of  Jairus's  Daughter." 

Klinger,  Max:  "Christ  on  Olympus." 

Kowatski:  "Childhood  of  Jesus." 

Kusthardt:  "Peace  Be  Unto  You." 

Max:  "Jesus  Christ"  (Veronica's  Handkerchief). 

Merson:  "Arrival  at  Bethlehem." 

Merson:  "Repose  in  Egypt." 

Meurisse-Franchomme :  "Concert    of    Angels    on    the 

Road  to  Egypt." 
Meyer,  Kunz:  "Judas." 
Michetti:  "Conversion  of  Saul." 
Morelli:  "Christ  Tempted  in  the  Wilderness." 
Morris:  "Repose  in  Flight." 
Murillo:  "Immaculate  Conception." 
Pape,  F.  L.  M.:  "Light  in  Egypt." 
Prell:  "Corruption  of  Judas." 


THE  EMOTIONS  99 

Raphael:  Face  of  Christ,  detail  of  "Transfiguration." 

Reni,  Guido:  "Ecce  Homo." 

Rochegrasse:  "The  Tables  of  the  Law." 

Rodin:  "Prodigal  Son." 

Scheurenberg:  "Mary  Meets  a  Shepherd  Boy." 

Skredsvig:  "The  Son  of  Man"  (Christ  as  Norwegian 

Carpenter). 
Swan,  J.  M.:  "Prodigal  Son." 
Tanner,  H.  O.:  "The  Raising  of  Lazarus." 
Tissot:  "Prodigal's  Return." 
Von  Uhde:  "Easter  Morning." 
Von  Uhde:  "Suffer  Little  Children." 
Von  Uhde:  "The  Testing  of  Abraham." 
Watts:  Series  of  Allegories  in  the  Tate  Gallery. 
Zimmermann:  "Christus  Consolator." 
Zimmermann:  "The  Boy  Jesus  in  the  Temple." 

Teaching  Material 

The  emotional  intensity  of  adolescence. — Observe 
the  emotional  reactions  of  an  adolescent  and  a  grown-up 
in  connection  with  the  same  experience.  State  the 
difference. 

What  influences  conduct  more  strongly  in  the  case 
of  adolescents  and  grown-ups — reason  or  feeling?  Ob- 
serve and  report  on  some  specific  cases. 

Report  on  some  specific  case  of  the  "emotional 
realization"  of  a  familiar  experience  when  you  were 
an  adolescent;  or  some  instance  in  which  you  became 
aware  for  the  first  time  of  the  presence  of  beauty,  of 
any  type. 

If  you  had  a  conversion  experience,  what  aspect 
lives  most  strongly  in  your  memory — changed  ideas, 
changed  determination,  emotional  intensity? 

Art  the  interpreter  of  emotion.   The  cultivation  of 


100        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

sympathy.  Emotional  aspects  of  symbolism. — What 
pictures  give  you  predominantly  an  emotional  reaction? 
What  symbols,  if  any,  have  given  you  one?  What  is 
your  favorite  picture,  and  why? 

Art  as  an  aid  to  worship.  Art  in  the  house  of 
worship. — What  art  elements  in  your  church  building 
are  to  you  a  conscious  aid  to  the  devotional  spirit? 
Do  you  know  of  a  building  that  is  more  conducive  to 
worship?  Report  on  any  experience  you  may  have 
had  abroad  with  cathedrals,  cathedral  music,  or  pic- 
tures, that  prove  to  you  the  value  of  art  as  a  hand- 
maid of  religion.  Have  you  experienced  the  converse 
of  this  truth,  namely,  that  bad  art  or  no  art  is  a  hindrance 
to  worship?  Would  the  cause  of  true  religion  be  helped 
or  hindered  if  the  gospel  story,  and  sermons  in  general, 
should  be  presented  by  the  dramatic  method  with  all 
the  accessories  of  scenery,  lighting,  and  music?  Name 
any  plays  you  may  have  seen  that  left  with  you  the 
impression  of  a  religious  experience. 

List  of  pictures. — Test  for  subtle  suggestiveness, 
allegory,  poetic  insight,  any  of  the  pictures  listed  in 
this  section,  and  try  to  write  out  your  feelings  and 
ideas  about  it. 


CHAPTER  IX 
PERSONAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  IN  ART 

Religion  is  supposed  to  make  men  better.  One  reason 
why  we  are  religious  is  that  we  may  become  richer  in  our 
per sonaH ties  and  readier  to  use  our  personalities  to 
further  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Self-culture  as  a  de- 
liberate aim  is  justifiable,  provided  the  enrichment  is 
passed  on  in  service.  That  art  is  a  means  of  spiritual 
culture  of  the  first  value  this  chapter  will  endeavor  to 
show. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  painter  of  a  great  picture  is  try- 
ing to  express  something — to  convey  emotion  or  an 
idea  or  an  inspiration — it  is  also  true  that  he  is  trying 
to  express  it  to  me  personally.  His  message  is  not  to 
people  in  general,  it  is  to  individuals;  and  for  an  in- 
dividual to  get  the  message  he  must  discover  some 
spiritual  relationship  between  the  picture  and  his  own 
soul.  He  must  find  in  the  picture  some  hint  of  his  own 
half  conscious  longing,  his  own  dimly  discerned  ideal. 
Religion  is  the  same  the  world  over.  The  essence  of  it 
is  the  recognition  of  a  spiritual  world  within  the  world 
we  see  and  the  endeavor  to  put  ourselves  into  rapport 
with  it.  To  discover,  therefore,  the  meaning  of  a 
spiritual  work  of  art  is  to  have  our  own  soul-life 
strengthened  by  bringing  some  element  of  it  more 
strongly  into  consciousness  and  by  making  its  beauty 
more  to  be  desired  than  fine  gold.  Art  that  embodies 
religious  values  is  a  veritable  food  for  the  soul. 


I02        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Soul  culture. — Soul  culture  is  achieved  through  med- 
itation on  values.^  Worship  might  be  defined  to  a 
large  extent  as  an  act  of  meditation,  for  worship  at 
least  demands  reflection,  the  recognition  that  God  is, 
that  he  is  good  and  that  specifically  he  has  been  good 
to  me.  And  though  worship  is  not  consummated  until 
by  consent  of  the  will  the  object  of  our  reflection  has 
become  one  with  us,  until  there  has  taken  place  an 
"osmosis,"  or  inletting  of  the  personality  of  God  to 
our  own,  yet  the  fact  remains  that  the  reflective  part 
of  the  process  is  a  necessary  preliminary. 

Now,  we  can  use  no  better  method  of  arriving  at 
an  understanding  of  the  nature  of  God  and  his  rela- 
tion to  us  than  to  use  the  character  and  life  of  Jesus 
presented  to  us  in  art,  for  in  so  far  as  artists  have  por- 
trayed Jesus  with  correct  insight  they  have  revealed 
to  us  the  character  of  God.  "He  that  hath  seen  me 
hath  seen  the  Father.'* 

Whether  as  a  preliminary  to  worship,  therefore,  or  in 
general  as  a  method  of  soul  culture,  a  serious  study 
of  pictures  of  Christ  is  a  most  valuable  religious  exer- 
cise. Studying  him  in  his  human  relationships  we 
may  discover  what  attitude  God  takes  toward  us  and 
what  attitude  he  expects  us  to  take  toward  him;  and 
we  may  discover  his  ways  of  working  in  the  human 
heart,  contacts  of  the  human  with  the  divine.  Learn- 
ing to  recognize  and  understand  these  in  the  quiet  of 
our  chamber  we  become  more  sensitive  to  the  divine 
approach  in  the  everyday  experiences  of  our  own  life 
and  find  in  actual  personal  contacts  the  essence  of 
religion. 

The  essence  of  religion. — Professor  Hocking  says, 


1  See  Hocking:  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience.  Chapter  XXIV:  "Thought 

and  Worship.'!  Yale  University  Press. 


PERSONAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  103 

^'Religion  calls  on  men  not  to  accept  certain  truths 
but  to  love  certain  realities."  Those  realities  are  per- 
sons. Professor  Lyman  states  the  same  truth  in  another 
way  when  he  says,  ''Religion  is  the  practice  of  the 
most  perfect  personal  relationships." 

Among  the  countless  pictures  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
one  can  find  many  that  embody  this  teaching.  Perhaps 
one  of  the  simplest  and  best  is  Von  Uhde's  ''Suffer 
Little  Children."  In  this  picture  Von  Uhde  has  shown 
us  the  interior  of  a  country  schoolhouse.  The  teacher 
has  abdicated  his  throne  and  stands  modestly  in  the 
background  while  a  greater  Teacher  has  taken  possession. 
Jesus  sits  in  the  chair.  About  him  are  grouped  the 
children.  In  the  background  come  parents  with  still 
others  and  with  babes  in  arms.  It  is  a  wonderfully 
natural  group,  the  children  exhibiting  all  stages  of 
bashfulness  and  self-consciousness.  In  the  very  focus 
and  heart  of  the  picture  is  a  little  fiaxon-haired  four- 
year-old  who  stands  just  in  front  of  Jesus,  reaches  out 
her  little  hand  and  looks  up  into  his  face.  She  is  Von 
Uhde's  message,  his  teaching  that  religion  is  untheolog- 
ical  and  unecclesiastical — it  is  simply  human  and  per- 
sonal; and  that  love  and  trust  are  its  two  dominant 
moods,  are,  in  fact,  its  essence. 

Raphael  has  a  similar  message  in  his  "Transfigura- 
tion." If  one  analyzes  the  face  of  Christ,  one  discovers 
a  most  marvelous  surrender  of  the  will  to  the  Father 
even  in  the  face  of  imminent  failure  and  tragic  death. 
One  sees  there  a  living  portrayal  of  the  act  of  inletting 
"between  the  human  spirit  and  the  living  tissue  of  the 
universe  wherein  it  is  eternally  carried."^ 

Self-control. — A  practical  function  of  religion  is  to 


1  Hocking:   The  Meaning  of  God  in  Human  Experience,  page  23.    Yale  University 
Press. 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  IX 

Debat-Ponsan:  Christ  on  the  Mountain 

"Love  One  Another" 

A  long  valley  runs  from  the  far  distance  toward  the  spectator.  On 
the  right,  the  solitary  figure  of  Christ  stands  on  the  mountainside; 
on  the  left  are  the  two  long  lines  of  humanity,  the  conquerors  and 
the  conquered.  No  personalities  or  types  can  be  recognized  in  the 
distance,  but  midway  the  line  of  conquerors  is  a  group  clad  in  mail. 
One  knight  has  a  Maltese  cross  on  his  breast,  one  a  Greek  or  Latin 
cross  on  breastplate  and  banner.  Who  are  these?  On  the  extreme 
left  sits  the  shadowy  figure  of  the  Pope,  with  heavy  cope  and  the 
triple  miter  crowned  by  the  cross.  Why  is  he  shadowy  while  the 
knights  who  are  farther  away  are  clear?  Why  is  he  placed  highest 
and  just  opposite  the  figure  of  Jesus?  In  the  nearer  group  of  con- 
querors one  recognizes  the  costume  of  a  sixteenth-century  common 
soldier.  The  man  with  the  white  tights  and  dark  beard  may  be 
Francis  I,  the  instigator  of  the  Huguenot  wars  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. What  is  his  opinion  of  Jesus?  The  nearer  one  in  black  tights 
is  evidently  a  French  gentleman  of  the  time  of  the  Saint  Bartholomew 
massacres,  1572.  What  does  he  think  of  Jesus'  message?  The  nearest 
one  in  brocaded  coat  and  long  boots  is  a  Cavalier  of  the  age  of 
Charles  I  and  II  of  England.  What  prevents  his  hearing  the  message? 

Turning  to  the  conquered,  one  recognizes  in  the  foreground  a 
Puritan,  with  square-toed  shoes,  his  ankles  chained  and  a  Bible  under 
his  dead  hand.  The  dead  seem  to  belong  mostly  to  the  middle  class. 
One  boy  is  clad  in  a  sheepskin  and  carries  a  slender  cross  like  that 
of  John  the  Baptist.  Who  can  the  girl  be  in  the  center  of  the  picture, 
with  hair  and  dress  disheveled  and  hands  bound?  And  why  should 
a  priest  be  praying  over  her?  In  the  immediate  foreground  are  burn- 
ing books.  What  are  they  and  why  should  they  be  burned  ?  Suppose 
they  are  burned — what  happens  to  the  truth  they  contain? 

Evidently,  the  artist  has  tried  to  suggest  the  long  and  horrible 
procession  of  religious  wars  with  which  the  church  has  stained  its 
hands.  What  wars  are  indicated,  what  were  the  causes  and  what 
the  results?    Has  Christianity  been  a  failure? 

What  does  the  pose  of  Jesus  suggest?  Can  you  put  additional 
words  into  his  mouth  beyond  those  given  in  the  title?  Why  doesn't 
Jesus  do  something?  Has  the  picture  come  to  be  out  of  date?  Com- 
pare and  contrast  it  with  Cabanes'  picture  following  page  113. 


I04         ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

confer  self-control  upon  the  spirit.  Now,  self-control 
is  secured  in  large  part  through  a  subconscious  judg- 
ment of  values,  a  recognition  of  what  things  are  im- 
portant and  what  are  not,  through  the  acquirement 
of  a  perspective  of  Hfe  and  a  quick  perception  of  the 
other  person's  viewpoint.  One  does  not  get  angry 
usually  if  one  understands,  and  understanding  usually 
arises  from  the  previous  practice  of  meditation.  In 
secret  we  seek  to  understand,  and  our  successive  under- 
standings sink  down  into  our  subconscious  personality 
and  form  the  basis  of  action  in  those  swift  moments 
when  there  is  no  time  for  reflection. 

If  we  study  various  incidents  in  the  hfe  of  Jesus, 
we  will  see  how  he  has  attained  his  self-control  by 
habitually  putting  himself  in  hne  with  his  Father's 
will.  Each  separate  act  then  becomes  the  expression 
of  eternal  wisdom  and  faith  and  power.  Take,  for 
example,  Geiger's  ''Kiss  of  Betrayal."  Here  is  a  won- 
derful study  of  the  opposition  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
between  the  human  instinct  of  repulsion  at  the  embrace 
of  a  traitor  and  the  perfect  poise  of  soul  which  enables 
him  to  look  squarely  into  the  face  of  the  betrayer  and 
to  say  unmoved,  ''Friend,  wherefore  art  thou  come?" 

Or  see  the  character  attributed  to  Jesus  in  Titian's 
"Tribute  Money,"  where  the  wily  Pharisee  with  sudden 
insistence  is  trying  to  hustle  Jesus  into  an  indiscreet 
and  seditious  speech.  Observe  the  look  of  perfect 
comprehension  and  calm  penetration  on  the  face  of 
Jesus.  It  is  the  face  of  one  whose  words  are  "founded 
upon  a  rock"  and  that  rock  his  conscious  union  with 
the  Father. 

Or  note  again  the  self-control  of  Jesus  in  moments 
of  spiritual  and  physical  suffering.  Ciseri  expresses 
the  last  in  his  famous  "Ecce  Homo"  in  which  Jesus, 


PERSONAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  105 

crowned  with  thorns  and  bleeding,  bound  to  a  soldier, 
is  exhibited  to  the  howling  mob  in  the  courtyard  of 
the  Pnetorium.  He  is  unmoved  by  all  the  shouting, 
by  the  presence  of  the  Roman  judge,  by  the  cruel 
flogging,  and  the  prospect  of  the  cross.  He  has  seen 
all  this  as  God's  will.    His  heart  is  fixed. 

Da  Vinci's  "Last  Supper"  is  also  a  wonderful  illus- 
tration of  the  Saviour's  self-control.  Christ  sits  in 
the  center  of  confusion,  himself  unmoved  by  the  spiritual 
shock  he  has  just  administered  to  his  friends,  surrender- 
ing himself  for  the  moment  to  the  bitterness  of  friend- 
ship betrayed,  yet  never  casting  even  one  reproachful 
look  upon  the  startled  betrayer.  One  cannot  seriously 
consider  these  various  presentations  of  spiritual  poise 
without  discovering  a  personal  lesson  and  establishing 
a  personal  ideal. 

Courage. — Courage  also  arises  from  a  true  percep- 
tion of  values,  from  knowing  what  to  fear  and  what 
not  to  fear.  It  has  its  basis  in  the  consciousness  of 
being  right.  Courage  and  all  similar  virtues  are  merely 
strength  in  right  causes,  and  it  is  the  fact  that  the 
cause  is  right  that  gives  the  strength.  Listen  to  Socrates 
as  he  faces  the  judges  who  were  about  to  condemn 
him  to  death:  "The  post  that  a  man  has  taken  up 
because  he  thought  it  right  himself  or  because  his 
captain  put  him  there,  that  post  I  believe  he  ought 
to  hold  in  the  face  of  every  danger,  caring  no  whit 
for  death  or  any  other  peril  in  comparison  with  dis- 
grace. So  it  would  be  a  strange  part  for  me  to  have 
played,  men  of  Athens,  if  I  had  done  as  I  did  under 
the  leaders  you  chose  for  me  at  Potidaea,  and  Am- 
phipolis  and  Delium,  standing  my  ground  like  anyone 
else,  where  they  had  posted  me  and  facing  death; 
and  yet  when  God,  as  I  thought  and  believe,  had  sent 


io6        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

me  to  live  the  life  of  philosophy,  if  I  were  to  fear  death 
now  or  anything  else  whatever  and  desert  my  post, 
it  would  be  very  strange;  and  then,  in  truth  one  would 
have  reason  to  bring  me  before  the  courts  because 
I  did  not  believe  in  the  gods  since  I  disobeyed  the 
oracle  and  was  afraid  of  death.  ...  If,  therefore,  you 
should  say  to  me,  'Socrates,  we  will  set  you  free,  but 
on  this  condition,  that  you  spend  your  time  no  longer 
in  this  search  and  follow  wisdom  no  more.  If  you  are 
found  doing  it  again,  you  will  be  put  to  death !'  I  would 
answer  you,  *Men  of  Athens,  I  thank  you  and  am 
grateful  to  you,  but  I  must  obey  God  rather  than  you, 
and  while  I  have  life  and  strength  I  will  never  cease 
to  follow  wisdom.'  " 

If  this  was  the  basis  of  the  courage  of  Socrates,  how 
much  more  should  we  seek  for  it  in  the  case  of  Jesus 
whose  whole  life  was  the  expression  of  his  consciousness 
of  Sonship,  "I  do  always  the  things  that  please  him." 
The  artists  have  now  and  then  caught  this  spirit  of 
courage.  Kirchbach,  in  his  "Cleansing  of  the  Temple," 
shows  us  Jesus  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion 
he  has  wrought,  himself  not  only  unmoved  and  un- 
armed but  embodying  in  his  person  all  the  strength 
of  a  divine  champion  of  justice. 

Others  besides  Jesus  show  this  trait.  In  the  "Be- 
heading of  John  the  Baptist,"  by  Puvis  de  Chavannes, 
John  kneels  before  us  with  his  eyes  wide  open  and 
his  hands  outspread.  There  are  no  fetters,  no  bandage 
on  the  eyes,  not  a  tremor  nor  the  slightest  sign  of  recanta- 
tion. It  is  the  form  of  a  man  who  has  done  his  duty 
and  will  never  do  anything  else  even  though  the  scim- 
itar of  a  tyrant  impends.  Artists  have  shown  us  courage 
in  still  humbler  spheres.  In  Lord  Leighton's  dramatic 
picture,   "Rizpah,"    the    heroine,   guards   the   impaled 


PERSONAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  107 

bodies  of  her  sons  against  the  prowling  creatures  of 
the  night;  and  Daniel  in  Briton  Riviere's  pictures 
looks  the  den  of  lions  in  the  face  or  calmly  turns  his 
back  upon  them  while  he  answers  the  cry  of  the  king. 

Divine  contacts. — One  has  only  to  keep  one's  eyes 
open  to  find  everywhere  in  pictures  evidences  of  the 
divine  touch  upon  human  life.  These  contacts  take 
various  forms.  Sometimes  they  appear  in  consciousness 
as  the  call  to  duty,  sometimes  as  the  conscience  which 
makes  cowards  of  us  all,  sometimes  as  remorse,  which 
is  God's  sign  that  sin  has  not  yet  killed  the  soul.  We 
see  it  in  the  act  of  conversion  when  men  turn  to  God, 
in  communion  and  inspiration  when  they  raise  their 
hearts  to  him  and  feel  the  solicitation  upward.  We 
feel  its  touch  in  human  forgiveness  as  when  the  father 
welcomes  the  returning  prodigal  with  his  embrace, 
or  in  those  crowning  words  from  the  cross,  "Father, 
forgive  them."  All  these  moments  are  witnesses  to 
the  ever-present,  brooding  spirit  of  God  and  to  the 
kindred  divinity  in  man's  bosom  that  leaps  up  to  meet  it. 

List  of  pictures  embodying  personal  religious  values: — 
Abbey,  A.:  "Jacob  Wrestling.'^ 
Abbey,  A.:  "Jael  and  Sisera." 
Abbey,  A.:  "Deborah." 
Abbey,  A.:  "Gideon." 
Anderson:  "Neither  Do  I  Condemn  Thee." 
Armitage:  "Remorse  of  Judas." 
Dietrich:  "Christ's  Call  to  the  Sick  and  Weary." 
Dicksee:  "The  Arrow  of  the  Lord's  Victory." 
Dobson:  "Raising  the  Widow's  Son  at  Nain." 
Gebhardt,  von:  "Jacob  Wrestling." 
Gerome:  "Rizpah." 
Gerome:  "Last  Supper." 
Goodall:  "By  the  Sea  of  Galilee." 


io8        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Hacker,  A.:  ^'Christ  and  the  Magdalene." 
Harrach:  'Teter's  Denial." 
Harrach:  ^'Lovest  Thou  Me?" 
Israels,  Josef:  "David  before  Saul." 
Israels,  Josef:  "David  and  Goliath." 
Jacomb-Hood :  "Raising  Jairus's  Daughter." 
Kirchbach:  "Jesus  the  Friend  of  Children." 
Kowalski:  "Childhood  of  Jesus." 
Leduc:  "Temptation  in  the  Desert." 
Liska:  "Gethsemane." 
Meyer,  Kunz:  "Judas." 
Michetti:  "Conversion  of  Saul." 
MorelK:  "Jesus  in  Galilee." 
Parsons,  Beatrice:  "The  Annunciation." 
Pauwels:  "Ye  Shall  Seek  Me  and  Find  Me." 
Penrose,  J.  D.:  "Jacob  Wrestling." 
Pyke-Nott,  Evelyn:  "Justified  Rather  than  the  Other." 
Riviere:  "Temptation  in  the  Wilderness." 
Roederstein:  "Suffer  the  Little  Ones." 
Sant,  J.:  "Child  Samuel." 
Sant,  J.:  "Infant  Tmiothy." 
Schade:  "The  Children's  Friend." 
Schmid:  "Suffer  Little  Children." 
Seligmann:  "Holy  Family." 
Shields:  "St.  Paul  at  Rome." 
Siemiradski:  "Christ  and  the  Woman  of  Samaria." 
Swan,  J.  M.:  "Prodigal  Son." 
Swan,  J.  M.:  "The  Burning  Bush." 
Swan,  J.  M.:  "Cities  of  Refuge." 
Taylor,  W.  L.:  "The  Boy  Christ." 
Todd,  H.:  "Peter's  Denial." 
Von  Uhde:  "Testing  of  Abraham." 
Watts:  "For  He  Had  Great  Possessions." 
See  also  pictures  listed  in  Chapters  VI,  VIII,  X. 


PERSONAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  109 

Teaching  Material 

Soul  culture. — Select  some  picture  that  seems  to 
you  to  present  divine  characteristics  in  human  form: 
for  example,  Zimmermann's  "Christus  Consolator," 
Tissot's  "Prodigal's  Return,"  Von  Uhde's  ''Easter 
Morning,"  Burne-Jones's  "Tree  of  Life,"  Hacker's 
"Christ  and  the  Magdalene"  or  Hunt's  "Light  of  the 
World";  analyze  it  till  you  feel  that  you  understand 
it,  then  contemplate  it;  try  to  realize  the  picture  as 
God  expressing  himself  through  a  human  being.  Some- 
how connect  yourself  in  a  personal  way  with  the  process. 
Could  you  call  the  result  a  religious  experience? 

The  essence  of  religion. — Take  half  a  dozen  pictures 
of  the  life  of  Christ.  State  to  yourself  what  attitudes 
toward  people  Jesus  is  assuming.  Are  these  attitudes 
demanded  by  the  Christian  religion?  Imagine  Jesus 
assuming  a  contrary  attitude.  Would  he  still  be  exempli- 
fying a  Christian  ideal?  Name  an  ideally  desirable 
human  relationship  that  is  not  demanded  by  Chris- 
tianity. Name  an  attitude  or  relationship  demanded 
by  Christianity  that  would  not  be  humanly  ideal. 
What  aspects  has  Christianity  that  ignore  personal 
relationships — God  being  a  person? 

Self-control. — Make  a  list  of  pictures,  religious  or 
secular,  that  exemplify  the  virtue  of  self-control.  To 
what  extent  in  the  several  pictures  is  this  self-control 
based  evidently  on  moral  superiority? 

Courage. — List  similarly  pictures  that  illustrate  cour- 
age.   What  in  each  case  seems  to  be  the  source  of  courage? 

Divine  contacts. — List  similarly  pictures  that  illus- 
trate divine  contacts,  and  group  them  as  suggested  in 
the  "Blanks  for  a  Community  Survey  of  Religious  Art," 
p.  145.  Add  to  these  lists  from  time  to  time  and  use 
them  in  your  teaching  as  you  have  opportunity. 


CHAPTER  X 
SOCIAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES 

More  and  more  clearly,  the  function  of  religious 
education  is  being  understood  in  social  terms.  Religion 
undertakes  to  make  better  homes,  better  nations,  better 
industrial  and  commercial  institutions,  better  schools. 
To  hasten  the  universal  reign  of  God  is  man's  religious 
task.  One  cannot  be  said  to  be  properly  trained,  re- 
ligiously, who  does  not  incarnate  the  spirit  of  unfeigned 
brotherliness,  and  who  is  unable  to  minister  efficiently 
to  social  needs. 

The  social  gospeL — It  is  astonishing  that  it  took 
the  church  two  thousand  years  to  discover  fully  that 
Christianity  means  ^'social  good  news."  There  is  some 
cause  for  this  slowness,  to  be  sure,  in  the  primitive 
conception  of  religion,  namely,  that  religion  has  to  do 
with  the  service  of  the  gods.  And  yet  when  one  con- 
siders the  Jewish  ancestry  of  the  church  it  is  surprising 
that  men  so  quickly  forgot  the  social  implications  of 
religion.  Amos  and  Hosea,  Isaiah  and  Micah  certainly 
knew  that  religion  had  something  to  do  with  social 
relationships.  Christ  as  the  greatest  of  the  prophets 
not  only  taught  but  practiced  the  same  truths.  But 
just  as  the  religious  hierarchy  killed  the  prophets  and 
stoned  those  that  were  sent  unto  them,  so  the  Christian 
hierarchy  has  rejected  through  the  centuries  the  social 
interpretation  of  Jesus's  message  and  has  reverted  to 
the  more  primitive  conception  that  religion  is  serving 
God. 

It  is  true  that  all  through  the  centuries  there  have 

no 


SOCIAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  m 

been  sporadic  prophets  like  Saint  Francis  of  Assisi  who 
have  placed  dogma  below  social  living,  but  not  until 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  did  the  church  in 
any  large  way  rediscover  the  true  gospel. 

Art,  which  is  always  the  reflection  of  life,  has  like- 
wise failed  to  express  social  values  until  the  present 
generation,  having  been  content  through  the  cen- 
turies to  repeat  the  old  traditional  doctrines  with 
wearisome  reiteration.  It  is  very  significant  that  while 
there  are  annunciations  by  the  hundred,  nativities, 
adorations  of  Wise  Men,  passion-week  pictures,  cru- 
cifixions, descents  into  hell  and  resurrections,  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  find  adequate  representations  of 
the  ministry  of  Jesus,  those  untheological  acts  of  mercy, 
those  simple,  helpful,  human  relationships  that  con- 
stitute for  us  moderns  the  glory  and  divinity  of  his 
life.  The  social  gospel  does  not  exist  in  art  until  the 
nineteenth  century. 

Human  need  and  human  sympathy. — The  funda- 
mental reason  why  Christianity  is  a  religion  of  help- 
fulness is  because  men  need  help.  Life  is  full  of  poverty, 
of  ignorance,  of  disease,  discouragement,  selfishness, 
failure,  death.  These  facts  have  in  themselves  no 
religious  value,  no  one  likes  to  contemplate  them  in 
reality  or  in  picture,  and  they  are  unhealthful  objects 
of  attention  except  as  they  point  the  way  to  salvation 
for  those  who  are  looking  for  eternal  life.  Our  sym- 
pathies can  never  be  profoundly  stirred  without  some 
such  contact  with  misery.  To  feel  the  world's  need 
is  to  hear  the  world's  call. 

Granted  that  the  consciousness  of  suffering  has 
nothing  to  do  with  religion,  the  outgoing  of  the  human 
spirit  to  relieve  suffering  is  a  supreme  manifestation 
of  religion.    Witness  the  entire  ministry  of  Jesus.    One 


112        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

may  well  study,  therefore,  the  pictures  that  portray 
human  nature  in  distress,  especially  if  there  is  in  the 
same  picture  a  representation  of  some  divine  service, 
some  act  of  sympathy,  some  cup  of  cold  water,  some 
piece  of  self-sacrifice. 

In  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  one  finds 
an  increased  number  of  pictures  in  which  the  human 
need  and  the  sympathy  and  help  it  calls  forth  are  por- 
trayed vividly  and  movingly;  pictures  that  show  the 
instincts  of  friendship,  pity,  brotherhood,  good-will, 
love  in  operation,  not  only  to  the  salvation  of  the  dis- 
tressed, but  to  the  transformation  of  the  giver.  It  is 
perhaps  oftenest  portrayed  as  the  healing  ministry 
of  Jesus,  either  by  direct  representation  or  in  the  illus- 
tration of  a  parable,  or  by  symbol. 

Examples. — One  of  the  most  popular  pictures  in 
the  world  is  Hofmann's  "Christ  and  the  Rich  Young 
Man."  Here  are  two  types  of  human  need — one,  the 
physical  need  of  the  blind  and  the  lame  and  the  sick 
to  which  Christ  is  calling  the  young  man's  attention, 
and  the  second  is  the  need  of  the  rich,  the  need  for 
sympathy,  for  idealism,  for  self-sacrifice,  for  some 
iron  in  the  will.  And  Christ  is  here  performing  his 
divine  service  of  endeavoring  to  arouse  the  well-inten- 
tioned but  unobservant  and  unheroic  spirit  of  the 
young  patrician  until  he  shall  turn  all  of  his  resources, 
both  physical  and  spiritual,  into  the  channels  of  human 
helpfulness. 

One  sees  this  also  in  Von  Gebhardt's  picture  of  the 
same  incident.  Here  the  social  implications  of  the 
gospel  are  more  explicitly  portrayed.  Jesus  is  talking 
to  a  group  of  common  folks,  evidently  peasants,  upon 
the  rich  man's  estate.  There  are  laborers,  both  men 
and  women,  but  also  some  who  are  not  fit  to  work, 


SOCIAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  113 

and  there  are  children  whose  rags  are  eloquent  of  pov- 
erty. The  meeting  place  is  an  old  stable.  Into  the 
midst  of  this  scene  comes  the  rich  young  man  with 
his  fine  fur-trimmed  robe.  Half  apologetically  he 
interrupts  with  the  question  that  is  on  his  heart,  namely, 
how  he  can  be  as  well  off  in  the  other  world  as  he  is 
in  this.  A  glance  at  the  faces  of  the  men  reveals  the 
feeling  of  social  injustice  that  is  in  their  hearts,  and  the 
face  and  gesture  of  Jesus  shows  us  how  he  receives 
the  question  and  with  what  surgeon's  skill  he  diagnoses 
the  blight  and  prescribes  the  remedy. 

It  is  all  down  in  the  Apocryphal  Gospel  of  the  He- 
brews, as  old  and  as  authentic  as  any  of  our  Scriptures, 
"And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  'How  can  thou  say,  I 
have  kept  the  law  and  the  prophets,  .  .  .  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself.  .  .  .  Behold,  many  of  thy  brethren, 
sons  of  Abraham,  lie  in  dirty  rags  and  die  of  hunger 
and  thy  house  is  full  of  many  goods,  and  nothing  comes 
out  of  it  to  them.'  "  Eternal  life  according  to  Jesus 
is  the  state  of  living  the  social  gospel. 

Zimmermann  has  a  powerful  picture  called  "Christ 
and  the  Fishermen"  in  which  Jesus's  ministry  is  to  the 
understanding  of  an  old  and  religiously  minded  man, 
one  who  longs  to  be  enlightened  but  who  cannot  over- 
come the  wrong  thinking  of  sixty  years.  The  English 
Millais  in  the  "Enemy  Sowing  Tares"  pictures  the 
human  depravity  that  finds  its  delight  in  destroying 
what  other  men  seek  to  create,  while  the  French  Millet 
in  "The  Sower"  shows  us  the  toiler  whose  one  purpose 
is  to  enrich  the  world. 

The  world's  sin  and  need  of  repentance  is  pictured 
forth  by  Puvis  de  Chavannes  in  his  appealing  "Prod- 
igal Son"  and  by  Rodin  in  his  powerful  statue  of  the 
same  name,  while  the  Father's  love,  in  which  alone  is 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  X 

Cabanes:  The  Crucified  Ones  (19 19) 

Sub-title:  "The  Mission  of  Germany  is  to  Crucify  Humanity." 

Foreground:  women  and  children  sinking  in  a  muddy,  bloody 
pool;  on  the  bank,  women  holding  their  dead  children. 

Middle  distance,  right:  a  boy  and  two  women  crucified.  Over 
one  of  them  bends  the  misty  figure  of  Jesus  bearing  his  cross. 

Middle  distance,  left:  Three  guilty  men  are  halted  by  supernat- 
ural beings.  The  central  angel  grasps  Kaiser  Wilhelm  by  the  helmet 
and  swings  a  sword  aloft  for  the  stroke.  On  the  right  a  dark  figure 
grasps  the  shuddering  Emperor  Franz  Josef  by  the  neck.  On  the 
left  a  light  figure  seizes  the  wrist  of  the  German  Crown  Prince  clad 
in  the  uniform  of  the  Black  Huzzars  with  the  skull  on  the  helmet, 
and  shakes  the  sword  loose  from  his  grasp.  Above,  a  fourth  figure 
brandishes  a  pair  of  scales  as  if  about  to  strike  with  them.  To  the 
right  of  this  group,  a  German  soldier  is  murdering  a  victim. 

Distance:  on  the  right,  the  smoking  towers  of  Rheims  Cathedral 
and  other  ruins;  on  the  left,  the  smoke  and  fire  of  a  devastated  land. 

Whom  or  what  do  the  people  on  the  crosses  represent?  To  whom 
is  the  woman  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  calling,  and  what  is  she  saying? 
The  three  guilty  ones  are  not  looking  at  the  beings  in  the  air.  Why? 
What  do  the  sword  and  scales  stand  for?  Why  should  the  scales  be 
used  as  a  weapon?  (Look  up  the  meaning  of  the  word  "Nemesis," 
and  note  the  use  of  the  idea  in  literature,  especially  as  illustrated  in 
Shakespeare's  Macbeth.  See  Moulton:  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic 
Artist,  Chapter  VI.)  Why  should  Rheims  Cathedral  be  inserted  here? 
Why  not  a  burning  fortress  or  City  Hall?  Why  should  Jesus  be  here, 
and  why  should  he  bear  his  cross?  What  do  his  pose  and  facial 
expression  indicate?   Write  down  what  he  is  probably  saying. 

What  is  the  real  reason  why  Germany  stopped  fighting?  Did  God 
have  anything  to  do  with  it,  and  how  did  his  action  or  influence 
manifest  itself?  What,  if  anything,  does  this  picture  add  to  your 
conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  crucifixion? 


114        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

forgiveness  and  salvation,  is  given  us  by  Tissot  in  "The 
Prodigal's  Return."  Social  inequality,  with  its  sug- 
gestion on  the  one  hand  of  need  and  on  the  other  of 
lack  of  sympathy  and  understanding,  is  pictured  in 
Bonifazio's  "Parable  of  the  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus," 
while  Burnand  in  his  "Great  Supper"  shows  us  the 
virtue  of  noblesse  oblige. 

Hofmann  gives  us  several  pictures  of  Christ  healing 
the  sick,  and  Zimmermann  in  his  "Christ  the  Consoler" 
brings  out  the  transformation  wrought  by  sympathy 
and  skill  in  the  wretched  home  where  despair  and  the 
shadow  of  death  reign.  All  of  these  conditions  are 
suggested  in  symbol  by  the  Danish  artist,  Bloch,  in 
"Come  Unto  Me,"  in  which  Christ  is  surrounded  by 
figures  that  represent  each  of  them  an  aspect  of  the 
world's  need;  and  by  Soord,  in  "The  Good  Shepherd," 
where  the  Shepherd  rescuing  the  lost  sheep  from  the 
dangers  of  the  precipice,  the  night,  and  the  eagles, 
sums  up  the  tragedy  and  the  joy  of  the  deepest  expe- 
riences of  the  soul. 

All  through  the  centuries  artists  have  painted  for 
us  the  lives  of  the  saints  with  the  purpose,  no  doubt, 
of  glorifying  their  subject,  but  with  the  result  of  show- 
ing usually  that  sainthood  is  won  by  devotion  to  the 
saint's  fellow  men  who  suffer.  Sainthood  is  a  by- 
product of  a  life  of  service. 

Cooperation  for  the  common  good. — In  the  twen- 
tieth century  Christianity  has  so  disguised  itself  that 
it  is  sometimes  not  recognized.  Sainthood  and  piety 
were  once  associated  with  isolation,  abstraction  from 
the  world  of  sin  and  evil,  cell-piety  exercised  by 'spot- 
less nuns  in  the  vigils  of  the  night  or  by  good  brothers 
who  expelled  evil  from  their  hearts  by  sheer  force  of 
will,  though  they  had  nothing  to  take  its  place  but 


SOCIAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  115 

a  vacuum.  Though  this  ideal  of  Christianity  still 
lingers  in  some  parts  of  Christendom,  there  is  no  deny- 
ing the  fact  that  a  great  deal  of  sainthood  now  passes 
current  under  another  name. 

It  is  called  "good  citizenship,"  "playing  the  game," 
being  "white,"  giving  a  "square  deal."  The  social 
mind  and  the  social  heart  are  the  particular  fine  flower- 
ing and  fruitage  of  Christianity,  and  though  many  a 
man  who  shows  these  traits  may  repudiate  the  name 
of  Christian  and  say,  "When  saw  we  thee  sick  and  in 
prison,"  the  fact  remains  that  the  Lord  will  claim  him 
for  his  own. 

This  is  a  new  field  for  Christian  art.  The  art  of  ancient 
days  had  a  conception  that  Christ,  the  prophets  and 
all  the  saints  died  for  theology  rather  than  for  a  social 
cause;  but  the  art  of  the  twentieth  century  is  recog- 
nizing that  the  sacrifices  demanded  by  one's  community, 
by  the  church  and  the  state  are  sacrifices  for  a  social 
ideal  and  are  therefore  fruits  of  the  Christian  spirit. 
We  have  saints  in  overalls,  saints  in  sack  coats,  saints 
in  aprons  or  in  khaki  just  as  surely  as  we  used  to  have 
saints  surrounded  by  the  fires  of  the  inquisition  or 
the  lions  of  the  arena. 

The  public  certainly  recognized  the  truth  of  this 
ideal  in  the  days  of  the  Great  War.  Then  it  was  preached 
from  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform,  in  the  newspapers 
and  on  the  posters,  that  when  one  poured  out  time  and 
treasure  or  sacrificed  life  for  the  ideals  that  our  flag 
represents  one  was  serving  both  humanity  and  God. 
There  was  a  constant  interchange  and  interfusion  of 
the  religious,  the  social  and  the  patriotic  ideal.  The 
Man  of  Calvary  became  once  more  the  great  repre- 
sentative of  mankind,  and  the  fitting  monument  over 
the  graves  of  our  dead  is  the  symbol  of  the  cross. 


ii6        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Posters  in  the  war. — The  humble  poster  that  in 
prewar  days  called  our  attention  to  new  brands  of 
food  and  drink  and  to  salable  articles  of  every  kind, 
became  during  the  war  a  powerful  instrument  of  propa- 
ganda and  of  morale.  It  first  rose  from  common- 
placeness  to  something  truly  impassioned  in  Great 
Britain  when  the  artists  began  to  call  for  aid  for  the 
Belgian  refugees  and  the  Belgian  Red  Cross.  In  France 
all  through  the  war  the  posters  gripped  men  by  their 
poignant  appeal  and  deeply  felt  emotion,  and  even  in 
Germ.any,  while  we  cannot  admire  the  ideals  pre- 
sented, we  cannot  deny  the  power  with  which  they 
presented  the  claims  of  Force  to  the  allegiance  of  all 
good  Germans.  In  all  countries  the  posters  were  shot 
through  with  emotion  and  were  used  in  unbelievable 
variety  and  quantity.  The  Imperial  War  Collection 
of  England  contains  over  twenty  thousand  specimens. 

It  is  impossible  to  turn  the  pages  of  any  collection 
of  war  posters  without  feeling  violent  emotions.  One 
is  frequently  stirred  to  the  very  depths  as  he  realizes 
the  tremendous  principles  that  were  at  stake,  the 
human  suffering,  the  enormity  of  the  crime  of  war, 
the  heroism  and  the  glory  of  self-sacrifice.  Take,  for 
example,  the  collection  of  war  posters  by  Handie  and 
Sabin  (Black,  1920).  Here  are  some  of  the  powerful 
ones: 

No.  2.  Baron  Partridge:  "Take  up  the  Sword  of 
Justice,"  a  British  recruiting  poster,  based  on  the 
sinking  of  the  Lusitania;  the  hands,  emerging  from 
the  water,  the  wild  impetuosity  of  the  call  of  Justice. 

No.  2 1 .  Auguste  Roll  (French) :  "For  Those  Wounded 
by  Tuberculosis,"  an  appealing  picture  that  shows  the 
weariness  of  the  battle  for  life  and  the  patience  of 
the  nurse  who  ministers  to  the  sufferer. 


SOCIAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  117 

No.  24.  J.  A.  Fairre:  ''Let  Us  Save  Them,"  another 
tuberculosis  poster,  showing  the  seated  figure  of  a 
sick  man,  the  emaciated,  suffering  body,  the  burning 
spirit,  hope,  courage,  and  just  the  suggestion  of  the 
nurse's  hands  from  behind,  laid  upon  his  shoulders. 
The  particular  poignancy  of  these  last  two  lies  in  the 
well-established  fact  that  the  Hun  fought  with  dis- 
ease germs  as  well  as  with  gas  and  shrapnel. 

No.  26.  G.  Caper:  "French  Women  During  the 
War."  In  the  center,  a  nursing  mother  and  a  little 
girl  bringing  her  a  letter  from  the  front;  on  the  left, 
the  tired  munition  worker;  on  the  right,  a  girl  at  the 
back-breaking  work  of  the  farm;  in  the  background 
the  stern-faced,  armed  bust  of  La  France,  an  em- 
bodiment of  the  great  cry  of  Verdun,  "They  shall 
not  pass." 

No.  32.  J.  Adler :  "They  Too  Are  Doing  Their  Duty." 
A  French  war-loan  poster,  in  which  a  bandaged  soldier 
points  with  his  thumb  to  the  procession  of  men  and 
women  passing  in  money  at  the  window.  Above  in 
the  distance  is  a  farmer  sowing  seed. 

No.  2>S'  A.  Levoux:  "Subscribe  for  France  Who 
Is  Fighting  and  for  that  Little  One  Who  Grows  Bigger 
Every  Day."  A  bearded  soldier  holds  high  his  beau- 
tiful ten-year-old  daughter.  Below  in  the  corner  the 
wife  nurses  a  little  one — a  suggestion  that  love  and 
life  and  home  are  the  unspeakably  precious  things  for 
the  preservation  of  which  a  man  will  risk  life  itself. 

No.  75.  Raemaekers:  "Neutral  America  and  the 
Hun."  A  drunken,  brutal  butcher  with  spiked  helmet, 
hands  and  apron  dripping  with  blood,  confronted  by 
Uncle  Sam,  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  his  jaw  set,  his 
cigar  at  a  defiant  angle — a  perfect  picture  of  rising 
indignation  that  will  soon  burst  all  bounds. 


ii8        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Raemaekers. — The  great  cartoonist  of  the  war  was 
undoubtedly  this  Dutchman,  Raemaekers,  "that  fertile 
knight-errant  for  the  sake  of  humanity  who  toiled 
with  a  pencil  of  flame  against  the  outragers  and  op- 
pressors of  prostrate  Belgium"  and  who  was  "worth 
an  invincible  battalion  to  the  Allies."  So  powerful 
was  his  delineation  of  the  German  policy  of  frightful- 
ness  that  the  Kaiser  set  a  price  on  his  head.  Even 
he  had  enough  conscience  to  quiver  under  Raemaeker's 
thrusts.  If  one  would  learn  the  frightful  lesson  of  the 
wickedness  of  this  war,  one  has  only  to  turn  the  pages 
of  Raemaekers'  "America  in  the  War"  (The  Century 
Co.,  1919). 

Following  are  a  few  of  the  outstanding  numbers: 

Page  3.  "The  Stars  and  Stripes  in  the  Service  of 
Humanity,"  with  the  inscription,  "We  have  no  selfish 
ends  to  serve."  Uncle  Sam  kneels  and  presents  the 
American  flag  to  the  familiar  group  of  the  Pieta — the 
Virgin  with  the  dead  Christ  in  her  lap.  One  must  not 
fail  to  notice  the  identification  here  of  the  spirit  and 
sacrifice  of  Christ  with  the  ideal  of  the  Allies. 

Page  5.  "Columbia  Embracing  La  France,"  with  the 
inscription,  "When  I  was  a  child  it  was  you  who 
saved  me." 

Page  II.  "Belgium,  1918."  The  female  figure  of 
Belgium  tied  to  a  cross  and  watched  by  a  leering  Ger- 
man who  carries  a  whip.  Behind  is  a  flaming  city. 
The  Roman  guard  adds  a  powerful  suggestion,  and 
fuses  the  scene  with  Calvary. 

Page  25.  "Don't  Stop,  Old  Chap;  Keep  It  Up!" 
The  devil,  laughingly  talking  to  the  Kaiser. 

Page  35.  "Wake  up,  America."  A  Canadian  sol- 
dier crucified  on  a  tree  suddenly  discovered  by  Columbia. 
Poem  by  Mary  E.  Wilkins  Freeman. 


SOCIAL  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  119 

Page  57.  "Will  They  Last,  Father?"  The  Kaiser 
and  the  crown  prince  watch  an  hourglass  through 
which  drips  the  blood  of  the  human  sacrifice. 

Page  67.  "Justice."  On  one  side,  Themis,  Goddess 
of  Justice,  with  her  balances,  and  across  the  picture, 
Uncle  Sam  about  to  release  the  knife  of  the  guillotine 
on  the  neck  of  the  Kaiser.  Comment  by  Professor 
Basil  Guildersleeve. 

Page  69.  "Another  Peace  Proposal."  The  Pope 
making  overtures  to  the  outraged  Goddess  of  Justice. 
Comment  by  Henry  D.  Sedgwick,  identifies  the  scene 
with  Peter's  denial  of  his  Lord. 

Page  71.  "The  Fine  American  Spirit."  Father  and 
mother,  standing  under  Old  Glory  on  the  porch,  see 
their  boys  ride  off  for  France.  Poem  by  George  Ed- 
ward Woodberry. 

Page  loi.  "Is  It  Nothing  to  You  All  Ye  Who  Pass 
By?"  Uncle  Sam  pausing  in  wonder  and  pain  before 
Christ  on  the  cross. 

Page  III.  "Christmas,  191 7."  Night,  the  manger 
and  the  Holy  Family.  Three  kings  (the  Kaiser,  Franz 
Josef,  and  the  Sultan)  with  a  black  train  of  wolves 
looking  at  them  from  behind  the  forest  trees.  Com- 
ment by  Henry  Mills  Alden. 

Page  157.  "Sink  Without  a  Trace."  A  pretended 
blind  man  (Sweden),  giving  a  signal  to  an  assassin 
(the  Kaiser),  behind  a  woodpile,  that  two  children  are 
just  coming  out  of  the  schoolhouse.    Poem  by  Herfort. 

One  other  illustration  shows  the  constant  tendency 
to  identify  Christ  in  some  fashion  with  suffering  hu- 
manity. Raemaekers'  "Cultur"  (The  Century  Co., 
191 7)  contains  a  picture  of  Humanity  torpedoed: 
a  submarine  is  about  to  shell  a  boat,  labeled  "Hu- 
manity" with  Christ  standing  in  the  bow. 


120        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Whether  history  will  agree  with  the  judgment  im- 
plied in  these  cartoons  it  is  not  pertinent  to  inquire. 
The  fact  remains  that  the  artist  passed  judgment  and 
powerfully  proclaimed  that  judgment  to  the  world. 
There  was  born  anew  in  the  heart  of  the  Allies  the 
feeling  that  Christ's  message  has  chiefly  to  do  with 
suffering  humanity  here  and  now  regardless  of  any 
future  life,  and  that  the  ideals  he  proclaimed  of  justice 
and  brotherhood,  good  will  and  service  and  faithfulness 
to  an  ideal  even  unto  death,  are  the  great  saving  forces 
of  mankind,  the  essential  Christianity. 

Teaching  Material 

The  social  gospel. — Take  a  Catalogue  of  the  Uni- 
versity Prints.  Star  the  subjects  that  deal  with  the 
everyday  public  ministry  of  Jesus,  and  with  his  parables. 
What  per  cent  of  all  the  pictures  on  the  life  of  Jesus 
do  these  constitute?  Examine  samples  of  the  starred 
group.  Do  they  represent  adequately  the  social  gospel, 
or  are  they  of  the  nature  of  illustrations? 

The  human  need. — Make  a  special  study  of  the 
finest  representations  of  Christ  living  his  social  gospel. 
How  satisfactory  an  account  of  Christianity  do  these 
pictures  constitute?  Do  you  feel  the  need  of  additional 
elements  to  make  the  picture  of  Christianity  perfect — 
pictures  of  the  incarnation,  the  Passion,  the  resurrec- 
tion? Do  you  agree  with  the  findings  of  Rauschen- 
busch  in  his  Theology  for  the  Social  Gospel} 

Posters  in  the  war. — Do  you  approve  of  the  identi- 
fication of  Christ  with  suffering  humanity,  as  shown 
in  the  war  posters?  Justify  your  position.  Make  a 
detailed  study  of  two  or  three  war  posters  that  seem 
to  you  best  to  express  the  truths  of  religion. 


CHAPTER  XI 
RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE 

One  of  the  experiences  that  most  impress  a  world- 
traveler  is  his  constant  discovery  that  the  most  con- 
spicuous relics  of  antiquity  are  all  religious  in  origin 
and  in  use.  In  every  country  religious  buildings  seem 
to  be  the  largest,  the  most  pemianent  and  the  most 
beautiful  and  as  one  goes  back  into  antiquity  such 
structures  are  practically  the  only  ones  that  have 
survived  the  wreck  of  time.  Men  built  for  themselves 
houses  of  a  day,  but  for  the  gods  houses  of  eternity. 

Temple  relics  the  world  over. — The  pyramids,  the 
rock  temples  of  Abu  Simbel,  the  huge  mortuary  temples 
of  the  Ramesseum  and  Medinet  Habu  and  the  world- 
famous  Karnak  constitute  the  most  impressive  memorials 
that  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  ancient  world. 

India  is  filled  with  the  relics  of  great  religions.  From 
the  little  stone  temples  in  Kashmir,  that  betray  the 
influence  of  Alexander  the  Great,  to  the  Buddhistic 
topes  at  Sanchi  and  the  mountainous  dagobars  at 
Ceylon;  from  the  Hindu  rock  caves  at  Ellora  and  the 
Dravidian  towers  of  Madura  to  the  delicately  carved 
and  wonderfully  preserved  Jain  temples  on  the  top 
of  Mount  Abu,  and  the  mosques  of  Islam  with  their 
soaring  domes  and  heaven-piercing  minarets,  the  build- 
ings sacred  to  religion  are  everywhere  in  evidence  and 
are  the  chief  objectives  of  every  traveler.  Every  re- 
ligion has  contributed:  whether  the  demon  worship 
that  sought  to  protect  itself  against  the  tidal  bore 
by  means  of  the  Six  Harmonies  pagoda  at  Hang-Chow 

121 


122        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

or  the  ancestor  worship  that  inspired  the  wondrous 
flaming  temples  under  the  cryptomerias  at  Nikko,  or 
the  ancient  sun  worship  that  strewed  the  plains  of 
Shinar  with  its  Ziggurats  or  the  esthetic  cult  of  Divine 
Wisdom  that  has  glorified  its  own  genius  in  the  Parthe- 
non. All  faiths  have  built  and  built  for  the  most  part 
nobly  and  inspiringly.  Building  for  human  needs 
may  have  been  necessary,  but  building  for  God  has 
always  been  a  passion. 

Church  buildings  a  record  of  Christian  history. — 
The  Christian  faith  is  no  exception  to  the  general  rule. 
As  soon  as  Christians  began  to  meet  they  began  to 
build.  At  first  they  naturally  adapted  other  buildings 
to  their  uses,  but  before  many  generations  the  Chris- 
tian religion  evolved  its  own  ideals  and  styles  and 
has  maintained  an  ecclesiastical  tradition  down  to  the 
present.  In  the  late  Middle  Ages  when  Europe  was 
recovering  from  the  deluge  of  the  barbarians,  build- 
ing became  the  chief  material  expression  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  Architecture  was  ranked  among  the  sacred 
sciences  and  the  architects  arose  almost  exclusively 
from  among  the  ranks  of  the  clergy.  The  designers  and 
builders  of  practically  all  the  great  abbeys  and  most 
of  the  cathedrals  of  Europe  were  monks. 

Knowledge  of  these  facts  adds  tremendous  interest 
to  the  study  of  church  architecture  whether  by  pic- 
tures or  by  first-hand  contact.  It  becomes  a  fascination 
to  trace  the  historical  element  in  religious  structures, 
to  follow  a  given  plan  or  design  or  bit  of  ornament 
back  to  its  origin;  for  it  helps  us  to  realize  from  a  new 
angle  that  our  religion  is  not  an  extempore  affair  but 
has  its  roots  in  the  past  and  that  it  has  manifested 
itself  historically  in  what  might  not  too  fancifully  be 
called  a  pageant  of  church  architecture. 


RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE  123 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  survey  the  chief 
Christian  styles  of  buildings,  to  characterize  briefly 
their  main  features,  and  to  enable  a  layman  to  trace 
in  a  general  way  the  origin  of  any  religious  structure 
he  happens  to  meet. 

The  Roman  gift  to  Christianity. — Christianity  de- 
veloped while  Rome  was  an  imperial  government,  a 
world  power.  Throughout  the  circle  of  the  lands  Ro- 
man law  was  the  unifying  influence,  resting  ultimately 
on  the  sanction  of  Roman  arms.  Legal  procedure 
everywhere  was  uniform  and  the  courts  of  law  assem- 
bled in  buildings  that  were  characteristically  Roman 
and  that  had  been  evolved  through  the  exigencies  of 
law  for  half  a  millennium.  These  law  buildings  which 
could  be  found  in  every  city  of  consequence  were  called 
basilicas.  They  were  rectangular  in  plan,  had  a  cen- 
tral portion,  or  nave,  flanked  by  two  aisles,  the  nave 
being  lighted  by  a  row  of  windows  above  the  aisles. 
At  the  upper  portion  of  the  nave  was  a  big  triumphal 
arch  spanning  the  whole,  behind  which  was  a  semi- 
circular recess  containing  a  bench  for  the  assessors 
and  the  throne  for  the  praetor.  At  the  center  of  the 
semicircle  was  an  altar  for  libations  to  the  gods.  Lit- 
igants brought  their  cases  to  these  buildings.  They 
and  their  attorneys  and  the  spectators  could  find  stand- 
ing room  in  the  main  building  while  the  judges  and 
those  particularly  concerned  occupied  the  raised  por- 
tion, the  exedra,  or  apse. 

The  Christians  found  this  building  best  suited  of 
all  the  Roman  structures  for  the  purposes  of  their 
worship.  The  congregation  filled  the  main  portion  of 
the  building,  the  priest  or  pastor  occupied  the  praetor's 
chair.  As  the  Roman  religion  fell  into  decay  not  only 
did    the    early    Christians    take    over    these    buildings 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  XI 
Parish  Church  of  Santa  Maria  in  Trastevere,  Rome 

This  venerable  church  was  first  built  by  Pope  Julius  I  about  340 
A.D.,  suffered  mishaps  of  various  kinds,  was  restored  and  added  to 
several  times  through  the  Middle  Ages,  and  was  rebuilt  in  its  pres- 
ent form  under  Pope  Innocent  II  in  1148  A.D. 

The  church  is  a  basilica,  the  materials  for  which  were  taken  largely 
from  pagan  buildings.  The  twenty-four  columns  of  Egyptian  granite 
with  their  heavy  Ionic  capitals  some  of  them  adorned  with  the  heads 
of  Roman  and  Egyptian  deities,  once  graced  the  Isaeum  or  Roman 
temple  erected  to  the  Egyptian  goddess  Isis.  What  is  the  symbolic 
appropriateness  of  this  fact?  The  brackets  that  support  the  cornice 
of  the  entablature  are  also  ancient  fragments.  The  beautiful  mosaic 
pavement  consists  of  sawed-up  columns  of  verde  antique,  porphyry, 
etc.,  surrounded  by  geometric  designs  made  of  ancient  fragments. 
There  are  more  than  one  hundred  churches  with  such  pavements 
in  Rome! 

Find  the  nave,  the  aisles,  the  tribune,  the  tribune  arch,  the  apse, 
the  clerestory.  Note  the  position  and  form  of  the  high  altar.  Ob- 
serve the  ceiling  richly  carved  and  gilded.  The  mosaics  are  par- 
ticularly interesting,  for  they  are  rich  in  symbolism,  but  they  cannot 
be  studied  in  so  small  a  print.  They  are  in  the  apse  and  on  the 
tribune  arch. 

What  advantages  can  you  see  in  worshiping  in  such  a  church? 
What  disadvantages  from  our  modem  standpoint?  If  you  were 
designing  a  church,  which  of  the  features  of  this  building  would  you 
retain  ? 


124        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

but  when  they  built  churches  of  their  own  they  fol- 
lowed the  basilica  plan. 

In  general,  therefore,  a  ''basilica"  is  a  Christian 
church  built  on  the  Roman  Law  Court  model.  Its 
distinguishing  feature  is  a  rectangular  plan,  a  nave, 
and  two  aisles,  a  triumphal  arch  and  a  round-headed 
apse.  The  architecture  is  essentially  Roman;  there 
are  round  columns  with  capitals  on  which  rests  either 
a  straight  architrave  or  arches  that  carry  the  weight 
of  the  clerestory  wall.  Mosaics  adorn  the  arch  and 
the  apse.  The  Roman  altar  keeps  its  position  but 
becomes  a  Christian  altar.  Examples:  Santa  Maria 
Maggiore  and  Saint  Paul  without  the  Walls,  both  in 
Rome;  Saint  Apollinare  in  Classe  and  Saint  Apollinare 
Nuovo,  both  in  Ravenna.  This  plan  survived  in  the 
Romanesque  style  and  has  come  down  to  our  day. 

The  Byzantine  development. — The  people  of  By- 
zantium or,  as  the  city  is  now  called,  Constantinople, 
perfected  a  style  of  Christian  architecture  that  united 
Roman  and  eastern  elements.  It  represents  the  Greek 
spirit  working  on  Asiatic  lines.  In  the  East,  par- 
ticularly in  Syria,  the  early  Christians  showed  a  prefer- 
ence for  circular  or  polygonal  buildings  rather  than 
for  those  of  basilica  form. 

The  Greeks  of  Byzantium  crowned  such  buildings  with 
a  dome  and  so  gave  us  the  chief  characteristic  of  the 
Byzantine  style.  The  dome  was  rather  flat  in  pro- 
portion to  its  height  and  was  placed  approximately 
over  the  center  of  the  building,  its  weight  being  borne 
by  four  huge  arches.  Pillars  sometimes  developed  the 
ground  plans  along  lines  of  nave  and  aisles  and  some- 
times created  a  cross,  either  Latin  or  Greek,  within 
the  square  outer  shell  of  the  building.  But  whatever 
the  plan,  the  dome  and  the  great  arches  together  with 


RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE  125 

the  peculiarly  curved  triangle — called  a  Pendentive — 
that  unites  the  base  of  the  dome  and  the  sides  of  the 
supporting  arches  constitute  what  is  distinctively  the 
Byzantine  style  of  architecture. 

In  general,  also,  it  may  be  noted  that  the  walls  of 
a  Byzantine  building  are  solid  brick  with  almost  no 
openings,  and  cased  with  marble  on  the  inside.  The 
roofs  consist  of  vaultings  of  brick  lined  with  mosaic. 
They  are  never  wooden.  The  result  is  a  very  beautiful 
building  at  least  when  viewed  from  within. 

The  Byzantine  church  as  a  manual  of  religion. — 
The  Byzantine  style  was  perfected  during  the  period 
of  theological  controversy  in  the  church  councils. 
It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  architects  should  be 
instructed  to  embody  in  their  edifices  the  essential 
truths  of  religion  as  the  orthodox  conceived  them. 
The  entrance  to  Santa  Sophia  is  a  triple  doorway  in 
honor  of  the  Trinity,  each  door  itself  being  in  triple 
form.  The  great  dome  that  surmounts  the  vast  area, 
with  its  rows  of  windows,  best  typifies  the  all-inclusive 
nature  of  God,  at  once  the  canopy  and  the  illumination 
of  the  universe.  This  dome  is  supported  by  four  great 
arches  which  represent  the  four  evangelists  by  whose 
testimony  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  has  come  to 
the  church.  The  pillars  and  the  wonderful  marble 
sheathing  were  fetched  from  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth,  the  spoils  of  heathen  temples,  like  that  of  Diana 
at  Ephesus  or  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Baalbek. 

This  is  a  visible  token  that  the  religion  of  Christ  has 
conquered  the  world  and  that  even  the  errors  of  man 
can  be  made  to  praise  the  true  God.  But  the  crown- 
ing work  of  teaching  was  assigned  to  the  mosaicists. 
All  the  areas  of  the  church,  above  the  marble  were 
wainscoting,  made  into  a  great  illuminated  manuscript 


126        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

in  which  the  significant  persons,  acts,  and  doctrines  of 
the  faith  were  presented  in  undying  colors. 

In  Saint  Mark's,  Venice,  we  see  this  manuscript  in 
completest  form.^  Outside  is  the  mosaic  dedication  of 
the  church  to  Christ  and  to  Saint  Mark.  Within  the 
porch  or  atrium  is  the  story  of  how  God  prepared  the 
way  for  Christianity  and  foreshadowed  it  by  the  his- 
tory of  the  Hebrews.  Here  in  successive  domes  are 
the  Creation,  the  stories  of  Cain  and  Abel,  the  Deluge 
and  Noah,  the  Tower  of  Babel,  the  histories  of  Abra- 
ham, Joseph,  and  Moses,  with  incidents  of  the  wilder- 
ness wandering. 

Within  the  church  itself  the  New  Testament  and 
scenes  from  church  history  are  blazoned,  together  with 
figures  of  the  Prophets  who  foretold  Christ's  coming. 
On  upper  wall,  arch,  lunette  and  dome  are  Christ, 
the  Apostles,  the  four  Evangelists,  the  Virgin,  the  story 
of  the  birth  and  infancy  of  our  Lord,  the  Baptism, 
Temptation,  beginning  of  the  ministry  at  Nazareth, 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  parable  of  the  Two 
Debtors,  Jesus  at  Jacob's  Well,  the  call  of  Zacchaeus; 
miracle  of  the  water  turned  to  wine,  cleansing  the 
leper,  healing  the  Syro-Phcenician's  daughter,  raising 
the  widow's  son,  healing  the  paralytic,  healing  the 
man  with  the  dropsy,  the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes, 
cleansing  the  ten  lepers,  healing  the  centurion's  servant, 
healing  the  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood,  multiplica- 
tion of  the  loaves  and  fishes,  walking  on  the  sea,  healing 
the  lame  man  at  Bethesda,  opening  the  eyes  of  the 
blind  beggar,  curing  the  demoniac  of  Gadara,  healing 
Peter's  mother-in-law,  healing  an  infirm  woman;  the 
transfiguration,  the  woman  accused  of  adultery,  the 
triumphal, entry,  cleansing  the  temple,  the  feet- washing, 

I  A.  Robertson:  The  Bible  of  St.  Mark  (Allen.  1898). 


RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE  127 

the  Last  Supper,  the  agony  in  the  garden,  the  betrayal, 
the  road  to  Calvary,  the  crucifixion,  Christ  in  hell, 
the  resurrection,  four  appearances  after  resurrection, 
the  ascension,  Christ  in  Glory.  After  sixteen  allegorical 
figures  representing  the  Christian  virtues,  comes  the 
descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pentecost,  incidents  from 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  a  series  of  illustrations 
of  the  book  of  Revelation,  including  the  Last  Judgment. 
Surely,  this  list  is  sufficient  to  justify  Dr.  Robertson's 
title  to  his  wonderful  description  of  this  church. 

Examples  of  Byzantine  style  of  architecture: 

Santa  Sophia,  Constantinople. 

Saint  Mark's,  Venice. 

Chapel  of  Columbia  University,  New  York. 

Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of  Westminster,  London. 

The  Romanesque  Church. — The  word  ^'Roman- 
esque" covers  various  types  of  building  based  on  Roman 
art  up  to  the  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  The  period  when  it  flourished 
was  the  Dark  Ages,  when  the  art  of  old  Rome  had 
been  destroyed  by  the  barbarians  and  when  buildings, 
if  they  were  constructed  at  all,  were  made  necessarily 
out  of  the  fragments  of  former  buildings  dug  out  of 
the  ground.  Churches  of  this  type  are  fortresslike, 
with  ponderous  walls  and  small  openings;  in  general,  a 
sober,  dignified  but  inert  mass  that  lacked  the  unity  and 
grace  of  the  old  classic  orders  or  the  delicate  equilibrium 
and  the  soaring  aspiration  of  the  Gothic.  It  typifies 
in  a  way  the  whole  spirit  of  the  church  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  a  church  that  was  on  the  defensive,  that  was 
solidly  holding  on  until  civilization  once  again  was 
reborn. 

The  external  characteristics  are  easy  to  detect. 
Openings  are  round  headed,  that  is,  the  Roman  arch 


128        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

predominates.  Even  the  solid  walls  are  sometimes 
divided  superficially  into  great  arched  panels  like  the 
expanses  of  a  Roman  aqueduct,  and  for  ornament 
there  are  blind  arcades  which  at  a  distance  look  like 
a  section  of  lace  and  which  run  around  the  top  of  the 
wall  or  across  a  fagade.  Always  there  are  little  panels 
with  a  round  arch  over  the  top;  the  portico  is  a  sort 
of  triumphal  arch  recessed  in  concentric  fashion  and 
ornamented  with  slender  pillars  standing  in  the  angles. 

Each  nation  developed  its  own  particular  variety. 
,  In  Italy  the  best  example  is  doubtless  the  cathedral 
of  Pisa  with  its  accompanying  baptistry  and  leaning 
tower,  in  Germany  the  church  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  or 
the  Church  of  the  Apostles  at  Cologne.  The  church 
ordinarily  called  Norman  is  in  reality  a  Romanesque. 
Samples  of  this  are  found  at  Bayeux  in  Normandy, 
numbers  are  found  in  Sicily,  once  a  seat  of  Norman 
power,  and  in  such  English  cathedrals  as  Durham. 
Specimens  are  not  wanting  in  our  own  country  though 
for  the  most  part  the  Romanesque  style  is  not  em- 
ployed exclusively.  Perhaps  the  best  example  is  Trinity 
Church,  Boston.  In  general,  one  may  say  that  arcades 
and  round-headed  openings  are  reminiscent  of  this 
phase  of  Christian  building. 

Gothic. — The  Gothic  church  is  the  religious  structure 
par  excellence.  It  reached  its  perfection  first  in  North- 
ern France  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  at 
a  time  when  the  church  had  emerged  from  the  lethargy 
and  barbarity  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  was  experiencing 
a  revival  of  spirituality  and  power,  the  like  of  which 
Christendom  had  never  before  seen  nor  was  destined 
to  see  again.  The  thirteenth  century  has  been  called 
the  age  of  faith;  that  was  because  the  church  was  ab- 
solutely dominant  in  the  minds  of  men. 


I 


RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE  129 

Religion  was  the  chief  reason  for  being  and  the  hand 
of  the  church  was  in  every  city  and  hamlet.  Every- 
body was  a  member  of  the  church  by  virtue  of  being 
born  and  baptized.  To  disregard  the  law  of  the  church 
was  at  once  heresy  and  treason.  One  could  neither 
be  born,  be  married,  or  be  buried  without  the  aid  of 
the  church  and  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell  were  in 
its  keeping.  All  learning  was  in  the  hands  of  the  ecclesi- 
astics; the  arts  were  fostered  by  its  grace,  and  while 
civil  powers  came  and  went,  though  barons  might 
plunder  and  emperors  conquer,  the  church  was  the 
one  sure  refuge  and  anchor,  not  alone  to  the  soul  but 
to  the  community.  All  of  these  facts  can  be  read 
upon  the  walls  of  the  great  cathedrals. 

That  the  church  was  the  dominant  feature  of  society 
is  reflected  in  the  dominance  of  the  cathedral  over  the 
city.  No  building  could  compare  with  it  in  size  and 
dignity.  But,  better  than  that,  it  symbolized  the 
united  religious  consciousness  of  the  community,  for 
the  building  itself  was  the  gift  of  the  workers.  Though 
planned  by  some  skillful  monk  and  its  construction 
supervised  by  the  clerics,  nevertheless  the  materials 
were  given  by  the  civil  rulers,  the  trade  guilds  and 
the  individuals  of  the  community,  even  the  humblest 
man  and  woman  not  being  excepted  from  the  general 
participation.  Masons  contributed  their  time  and 
their  skill,  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  worked 
out  their  souls'  salvation  in  humble  tasks,  and  when 
the  fabric  was  completed,  when  the  sculptors  had  graven 
upon  it  the  wondrous  personages  and  scenes  of  the  Bible 
and  the  history  of  the  church,  the  finishing  touches  were 
added  by  the  glass  makers  and  the  goldsmiths  and  the 
needleworkers  who  made  possible  the  atmosphere  and 
the  glory  of  the  mass. 


I30        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

One  might  well  call  the  cathedral  the  school  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  a  school  of  trades  in  that 
through  the  years  of  its  building  it  taught  new  genera- 
tions of  workers  how  to  build;  it  was  an  encyclopaedia 
of  knowledge,  for  in  its  decorations  were  samples  from 
the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdom,  pictures  of  the 
seasons,  types  of  labor,  the  heavens  above  and  the 
earth  beneath,  all  the  arts  and  crafts  and  the  truths 
by  which  men  live  and  die;  it  was  a  school  of  beauty, 
for  by  living  in  the  presence  of  this  growing,  living 
thing  one  learned  to  judge  of  less  worth  everything 
that  lacked  its  beauty  and  its  grandeur;  it  was  a  school 
of  self-expression,  for  each  man  contributed  what  he 
could,  and  the  wise  master  builder  allowed  free  scope 
for  various  types  of  genius,  as  one  can  easily  verify 
by  examining  the  multifarious  details  of  ornament, 
the  bewildering  variety  of  motif  and  style  of  such 
cathedrals  as  Lincoln  and  Chartres;  it  was  a  school 
of  religion  through  its  pictured  representations  of 
doctrines,  from  the  Lamb  slain  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  through  antitype  and  type,  through 
the  annunciation  to  the  blessed  Virgin,  through  the 
hving  and  dying  Christ  down  to  the  last  trumpet,  the 
gathering  of  the  nations  on  the  day  of  doom  and  the 
eternal  heaven  or  hell  that  waits  for  each  man. 

The  substance  of  Gothic  architecture  is  a  principle 
of  construction,  it  is  the  principle  of  distribution  of 
thrusts  and  strains,  of  equilibrium  of  forces.  The  old 
solidity  of  the  Romanesque  gives  place  to  lightness, 
almost  airiness  of  structure;  weights  are  distributed 
along  definite  lines  and  members  so  that  not  a  stone 
is  used  more  than  is  necessary  to  accomplish  the  results. 
Wall  spaces  shrink  to  mere  buttresses  and  openings 
increase  to  vast  window  spaces.     The  arcades  become 


RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE  131 

a  series  of  clustered  shafts,  bearing  slender  branches 
like  those  of  the  New  England  elni  that  spread  over 
the  vaulting  and  carry  the  weight  of  the  roof,  while 
the  delicate  clerestory  walls  are  maintained  against 
pressure  by  flying  buttresses  that  sometimes  look  as 
dainty  as  spider  webs. 

The  total  effect  on  the  human  spirit  is  one  of  eleva- 
tion. Whether  one  stands  without  and  sees  the  stones 
aspire  and  climb  into  ornament  and  again  aspire  and 
climb  until  the  very  heavens  seem  to  be  reached,  or 
whether  one  stands  within  among  the  soaring  pillars 
of  the  nave,  the  impression  is  created  that  here  at  last 
is  a  temple  worthy  of  the  living  God  and  capable  of 
lifting  the  soul  from  earth  to  him. 

Here  again  the  various  countries  have  expressed 
racial  characteristics  in  their  particular  development  of 
the  Gothic.  In  Germany  the  Gothic  is  less  refined 
but  it  has  straightforward  strength;  in  Spain  there  is 
a  mysterious  gloom  and  a  grotesque  but  realistic  energy; 
in  Italy  Gothic  is  decorative;  in  England  it  is  simple 
and  grand.  But  in  every  country  the  same  funda- 
mental characteristics  appear,  and  these  are  easily 
recognized.  Perhaps  the  one  invariable  sign  of  Gothic 
is  the  pointed  arch  and  yet,  as  above  stated,  Gothic 
is  essentially  a  principle  of  construction. 

Varieties  of  Gothic. — Since  most  churches  in  our 
day  have  elements  of  Gothic  it  is  worth  while  to  note 
the  various  varieties  in  common  use.  Most  of  them 
in  our  country  have  been  derived  from  English 
antecedents. 

(a)  Early  English.  This  is  best  typified  by  the 
cathedral  of  Salisbury,  England.  The  style  is  simple, 
almost  severe,  and  the  windows  are  narrow  and  tall 
with  an  extremely  pointed  arch — lancet  windows. 


132         ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

(b)  Decorative  Gothic.  As  the  name  implies,  this 
style  is  more  ornate,  the  windows  have  become  broader 
so  that  they  have  to  be  divided  by  stone  mullions, 
and  in  the  head  of  the  window  the  stone  takes  the  form 
of  tracery,  geometric  or  formal.  A  good  example  is 
York  Minster. 

(c)  Perpendicular.  In  this,  the  latest  Gothic  style, 
the  windows  are  broader  still,  the  arches  extremely 
flat,  and  the  mullions  run  straight  up  from  the  bottom 
of  the  window  to  the  arch.  Whatever  other  decora- 
tion the  window  may  have,  these  perpendicular  lines 
can  be  clearly  traced  and,  in  general,  the  units  of  sur- 
face on  tower  or  wall  are  rectangular  with  the  up  and 
down  lines  dominant.  Perhaps  the  best  illustration  in 
England  is  King's  College  Chapel,  Cambridge. 

In  our  own  country  we  seldom  get  an  example  of 
unmixed  Gothic,  yet  every  great  city  will  doubtless  pos- 
sess some  specimen  that  is  worthy  of  study.  In  New 
York  the  Catholic  Cathedral  of  Saint  Patrick,  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  is  an  excellent  example  of  decorative 
Gothic.  The  buildings  of  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York  city,  are  reminiscent  of  the  perpendicular 
style.  Newton  Center,  Massachusetts,  has  a  beau- 
tiful little  example  of  the  perpendicular  in  Trinity 
Episcopal  Church.  Most  city  churches,  however,  are 
built  after  the  early  Enghsh  model. 

Churches  built  within  the  last  twenty-five  years  in 
America  show,  as  a  rule,  a  revival  of  the  stricter  ecclesi- 
astical styles.  Catholic  churches  are  reverting  to  the 
Italian  Romanesque,  as  one  may  see  by  the  inspection 
of  numerous  examples  in  the  suburbs  of  many  of  our 
Eastern  cities.  Suburban  Protestant  denominations 
are  affecting  the  English  country  church,  the  charac- 
teristics of  which  are  a  big,  square  fiat- topped  tower 


RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE  133 

in  front  and  broad  transepts  with  large  perpendicular 
windows.  One  of  the  best  examples  of  the  latter  is 
Sage  Chapel,  Northfield  Seminary,  Massachusetts. 

References. — Fletcher  and  Fletcher:  A  History  of 
Architecture. 

Basilica,  etc.  106-191. 

Byzantine  192-216. 

Romanesque  217-266. 

Gothic  267-277,  286-290. 

(English)  294-316. 

(French)  2>^2-t,%S' 

(Italian)  404-423. 
R.  A.  Cram:  The  Substance  of  Gothic. 

The  Renaissance  church. — One  other  type  of  church 
building  obtained  vogue  from  the  sixteenth  to  the 
eighteenth  centuries.  It  is  known  as  the  Renaissance. 
During  the  historic  period  called  the  Renaissance,  the 
fifteenth  century,  the  classic  world  was  rediscovered 
and  architects  consequently  set  themselves  to  revive 
the  architectural  forms  and  especially  the  architectural 
decorations  of  classic  Greece  and  Rome.  In  Italy  the 
new  style  was  used  by  the  splendor-loving  Popes  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  by  the  Jesuits  of  the  Counter- 
Reformation  in  the  seventeenth. 

In  England  the  Renaissance  was  coincident  with  the 
revolt  from  Rome.  As  a  consequence  Protestant 
churches  that  were  built  after  the  time  of  Eliza- 
beth took  by  preference  the  Renaissance  form.  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  was  the  chief  apostle  of  this  move- 
ment and  Saint  Paul's,  London,  is  his  masterpiece. 
The  characteristics  of  this  style  are  the  use  of  the  Roman 
portico  with  the  gable  end,  Corinthian  capitals,  wall 
spaces  divided  by  pilasters,  with  windows  either  round 


134         ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

or  flat-headed,  usually  with  keystone  prominent,  and 
with  the  interior  arcades  making  use  of  the  round- 
headed  arch  and  barrel  vaultings.  The  larger  churches 
frequently  have  a  dome  over  the  crossing. 

Naturally,  the  most  conspicuous  example  of  this 
type  in  the  world  is  Saint  Peter's,  Rome;  and  the  Italian 
cities  contain  many  samples  of  either  new  or  rebuilt 
churches  in  the  Renaissance  style,  for  example,  Maria 
della  Salute,  Venice.  Paris  has  an  example  of  almost 
perfect  imitation  of  the  Greek  in  the  Church  of  the 
Madeleine.  In  London,  again,  the  great  fire  of  1666 
gave  Sir  Christopher  Wren  a  chance  to  rebuild  fifty 
or  more  parish  churches,  most  of  them  in  his  charac- 
teristic Renaissance  style. 

The  period  of  colonization  in  America  was  con- 
temporary with  this  movement  in  England,  with  the 
result  that  almost  all  of  our  New  England  churches 
are  modeled  on  Sir  Christopher  Wren.  One  learns 
to  look  for  the  classic  characteristics  and  to  enjoy  the 
infinite  variety  of  combination  which  our  country 
architects  and  carpenters  have  devised.  The  out- 
standing characteristic  of  the  New  England  church 
is  the  Greek  porch  with  the  two-story  pillars  and  the 
pointed  spire.  Almost  every  ancient  New  England 
town  can  furnish  an  example. 

Teaching  Material 

Temple  relics  the  world  over. — Make  a  list  of  the 
characteristic  buildings  that  have  survived  from  each 
of  the  chief  non-Christian  religions  of  the  world.  How 
do  these  compare  in  size,  cost,  beauty,  and  general 
impressiveness  with  church  buildings  in  America? 
How  do  they  compare  with  the  office  buildings  in  New 


RELIGION  IN  ARCHITECTURE  135 

York,  Chicago,  Seattle,  San  Francisco,  Detroit,  Phila- 
delphia? What  does  this  study  show  you  of  the  relative 
values  placed  on  religion  in  ancient  and  modern  times? 

The  Roman  gift  to  Christianity. — Make  a  study  of 
the  different  basilicas  until  you  can  recognize  at  sight 
their  characteristics.  What  churches  that  you  are 
acquainted  with  in  America  show  basilica  influence? 

The  Byzantine  Development. — Make  a  similar 
study  of  Byzantine  churches. 

The  Byzantine  church  as  a  manual  of  religion. — 
As  you  have  opportunity  collect  data  about  the  use 
of  mosaics  in  American  churches.  If  there  is  a  mosaic 
studio  or  factory  near  you,  talk  with  the  proprietor 
and  find  the  sources  of  his  designs;  find  also  to  what 
extent  he  is  familiar  with  the  old  Byzantine  rules  for 
this  branch  of  art.  In  your  judgment,  are  mosaics 
destined  to  play  a  larger  part  than  at  present  in  church 
decoration?  If  you  were  planning  a  church,  what 
designs  in  mosaic  would  you  specify,  and  for  what 
places  in  the  building? 

The  Romanesque  church. — Make  a  study  of  the 
different  types  of  Romanesque,  particularly  distinguish- 
ing the  various  national  types.  What  Romanesque 
elements  do  you  discover  in  any  American  churches? 

Gothic :  varieties  of  Gothic. — Assemble  pictures  that 
show  national  types  of  Gothic,  and  others  that  give 
characteristic  Gothic  details  of  structure  and  decoration. 
What  religious  teachings  do  you  find  embodied  in  the 
sculptured  decorations  of  cathedrals?  (Study,  for  exam- 
ple, the  details  of  Chartres,  Amiens,  Rheims,  Lincoln, 
Bourges.)  Identify  Gothic  elements  in  American 
churches. 

The  Renaissance  church. — Assemble  pictures  of 
Renaissance  churches,  by  countries,  and  learn  to  iden- 


136        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

tify  national   types.     Also  pictures  of  New  England 
churches  that  embody  Renaissance  elements. 

Which  of  all  these  types  seems  to  you  most  satis- 
factory to  express  the  spirit  of  Christianity?  In  your 
judgment,  can  twentieth-century  society  ever  produce 
a  church  building  comparable  to  a  thirteenth-century 
Gothic  cathedral?     Why? 


I 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  DISCOVERY  AND  USE  OF  COMMUNITY 
RESOURCES 

Religious  art  is  embodied  primarily  in  paintings 
which  are  possessed  by  the  few  or  collected  in  gal- 
leries; in  statues  similariy  owned  and  housed,  or  per- 
haps made  more  widely  accessible  in  public  parks;  and 
in  religious  buildings — churches  and  parish  houses. 
In  past  centuries  these  religious  works  were  the  only 
material  available  for  study,  and  since  those  alone 
could  profit  by  them  who  could  personally  go  where 
they  were,  the  message  of  art  was  limited  in  its  range. 

But  within  the  last  half  century,  the  inventive  genius 
of  man  has  come  to  the  rescue.  First  engraving,  then 
photography  set  free  and  gave  wings  to  the  products 
of  artistry  and  architecture,  so  that  great  masterpieces 
of  all  kinds  became  fairly  familiar  to  those  who  could 
afford  to  purchase  the  prints.  Then  other  cheaper 
processes  were  discovered  until  to-day  a  penny  or  two 
will  make  one  the  owner  of  practically  any  work  of 
art  of  value,  whether  of  sculpture  or  painting,  mosaic 
or  architecture.  Never  was  time  so  favorable  for  a 
great  forward  movement  in  religious  art.  The  ma- 
terials are  at  hand. 

A  community  survey  of  art. — The  community  in 
which  one  lives  is  the  first  logical  source  of  art  material, 
and  an  art  survey  seems  to  be  the  most  practical  means 
of  discovery.  This  survey  may  be  undertaken  by  an 
individual,  but  in  larger  towns  and  cities  it  would 
more  properly  become  the  task  of  community  coopera- 

137 


138        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

tion  through  a  voluntary  committee  or  an  interchurch 
committee  or  a  class  in  a  community  school  of  religion. 
It  would  be  advisable  to  hold  a  preliminary  meeting 
or  two  in  which  blank  forms  to  be  used  in  such  a  survey 
might  be  created  or  discussed  and  explained,  and  the 
area  of  the  survey  divided  among  the  members  of 
the  committee.  With  the  idea  of  the  survey  well  in 
mind  and  the  work  distributed,  a  very  few  afternoons 
would  suffice  to  finish  the  task.  Be  careful  to  arrange 
beforehand  with  the  pastors  of  churches  to  have  the 
buildings  opened  at  the  hour  of  the  expected  visit. 
If  two  go  together,  as  is  advisable,  the  work  in  any 
given  place  may  be  subdivided,  one  taking  the  archi- 
tecture and  symbolism,  the  other  the  pictures;  or, 
better,  both  work  together  in  order  that  one  pair  of 
eyes  may  supplement  the  other.  It  is  astonishing  how 
many  details  an  untrained  eye  may  miss. 

Church  buildings. — Begin  with  church  buildings, 
for  they  are  themselves  the  first-hand  creation  of  an 
artist.  There,  if  anywhere  in  the  community,  you 
may  find  originality,  or  at  least  original  combinations 
or  uses  of  traditional  material.  It  may  be  well  to  study 
the  buildings  in  the  following  way: 

I.  What  historical  type  or  what  elements  of  historic 
types  does  the  architecture  embody? 

Our  religious  architecture  is  not  a  fresh  twentieth- 
century  creation.  Its  roots  reach  down  into  the  past 
even  as  the  roots  of  the  faith  it  enthrones.  It  has  been 
shaped  by  the  needs  of  ritual,  by  national  and  by  racial 
impulses,  by  environment  and  even  by  theology.  So 
that  as  one  stands  before  a  given  church,  or  within  it, 
he  may  feel  the  spirit  of  past  epochs  and  have  a  vision 
of  the  passage  of  the  church  through  the  ages  of 
Christendom. 


COMMUNITY  RESOURCES  139 

In  Chapter  XI  we  saw  that  the  basilica  reminds  one 
of  Roman  law  and  its  contribution,  not  only  to  church 
architecture  but  to  church  organization.  The  Byzantine 
suggests  the  age  of  church  councils  and  creeds,  when 
the  Greek  mind  put  its  stamp  for  good  or  ill  on  the 
beliefs  of  men.  Romanesque  recalls  the  struggles  of 
the  church  after  the  barbarian  invasions  when  faith 
had  to  barricade  itself  in  order  to  survive.  The  soar- 
ing Gothic  speaks  of  the  reign  of  conquering  faith 
when  the  triumphant  church  of  the  thirteenth  century 
reared  temples  to  God  that  were  an  incarnation  of  the 
thought,  aspiration,  inspiration  and  resources  of  whole 
communities  and  nations.  The  Renaissance  style 
embodied  the  newly  refound  delight  in  classic  art. 
It  speaks  of  the  rebirth  of  the  intellect  and  of  the  '^this- 
worldliness"  that  foreshadowed  the  destruction  of 
Christian  unity  and  the  rise  of  Protestantism.  In  the 
colonial  architecture  that  is  the  glory  of  so  many  of 
our  New  England  towns,  we  see  in  its  final  form  this 
recoil  of  Protestantism  from  mediaeval  ecclesiasticism, 
in  which  men  fled  from  the  Pope  and  all  his  works 
into  the  arms  of  the  heathen  Athena. 

Thus  the  changing  aspects  of  religion  of  the  cen- 
turies have  left  their  ripple-marks  upon  the  church's 
structure,  and  our  latter-day  builders  are  emphasizing 
one  or  another  aspect  and  recalling  bits  of  the  church's 
long  history  by  their  choice  of  form  and  plan  and  dec- 
oration. This  is  why  we  must  record  these  archi- 
tectural facts  in  our  survey  and  use  them  in  our  educa- 
tional processes. 

2.  What  symbols  of  our  faith  have  been  placed  upon 
the  walls?     (For  fuller  treatment  see  Chapter  VIII.) 

Our  Puritan  ancestry  in  their  zeal  to  vitalize  the 
spiritual  side  of  religion  either  destroyed  or  shut  their 


PICTURE  STUDY  FOR  CHAPTER  XII 
Trinity  Church  (Episcopal),  Newton  Center,  Massachusetts 

George  W.   Chickering,   Boston,  Architect;    Ralph  Adams  Cram, 
Consulting  Architect 

This  little  gem  of  a  parish  church  is  a  reminiscence  of  two  greater 
structures  in  England.  The  main  building  is  a  simplification  of 
King's  College  Chapel,  Cambridge,  perhaps  the  most  imposing  extant 
example  of  collegiate  perpendicular  Gothic.  The  original  has  no 
transept.  It  is  a  long  hall  with  glorious  windows  that  occupy  almost 
the  entire  wall  space.  The  Newton  Center  replica  in  white  lime- 
stone keeps  the  general  proportions  of  the  original,  though,  of  course, 
on  a  smaller  scale,  and  shows  an  almost  complete  elimination  of 
ornament.  Only  the  pinnacles  and  the  two  turrets  on  the  facade 
burst  into  crockets  as  they  ascend,  suggesting  the  pentecostal  flames 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  rested  upon  the  apostles.  The  windows  of  the 
clerestory,  like  their  originals,  occupy  almost  all  the  space  between 
the  buttresses.  Their  stone  mullions  divide  the  space  harmoniously 
and  preserve  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  symbolism  by  the  repetition 
of  the  number  three  in  panel  and  arch.  The  beautiful  transept  chapel 
is  a  simplified  copy  of  the  chantry  chapel  of  Bishop  Longland  on  the 
southeast  side  of  Lincoln  Cathedral.  It  preserves  the  satisfying  pro- 
portions of  the  original,  the  battlements  and  the  elegant  tracery  of 
the  windows.  The  impression  of  the  whole  is  that  of  simple  beauty, 
full  of  grace  and  symmetry. 

Does  this  building  suggest  a  church,  or  would  you  mistake  it  for 
an  office  building,  a  gymnasium  or  a  theater?  What  is  gained  by 
having  a  churchly  building  for  public  worship?  What  is  the  probable 
effect  of  the  building  on  the  conduct  and  on  the  feelings  of  the  chil- 
dren who  attend  here?  Find  passages  in  the  Psalms  that  might 
express  the  feeling  of  the  members  of  this  parish  toward  their  "House 
of  God"  (for  example,  in  Psalms  84,  87,  93,  96,  122).  What  is  gained 
in  the  way  of  sentiment  when  the  beautiful  ideas  of  ancient  days  are 
reproduced?  What  spiritual  truth  is  suggested?  If  you  had  an 
ancient  Etruscan  gem,  would  you  set  it  in  the  Etruscan  style,  or 
invent  a  novel  design  for  it?  What  is  the  gem  the  architect  is  called 
upon  to  set,  arid  what  principle  should  guide  him? 


I40        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

eyes  to  all  the  gracious  forms  in  which  their  religion 
had  for  centuries  expressed  itself.  Cromwell's  soldiers 
smashed  the  stained  cathedral  windows,  hurled  down  the 
organ  pipes  and  substituted  for  the  colorful  and  dig- 
nified service  of  the  church,  nasal  psalm  singing  within 
four  bare  walls.  Because  of  this  narrow  and  vigorous 
emphasis  upon  other-worldliness,  not  a  shred  of  art 
came  over  in  the  Mayflower.  Colonial  Puritanism 
was  just  a  cold  orthodoxy. 

It  has  taken  us  nearly  three  centuries  to  recover; 
but  signs  are  at  hand  that  religion  is  destined  to  re- 
clothe  herself  with  beauty,  with  garments  of  praise 
and  jewels  of  faith.  Ancient  symbols  are  beginning 
to  reappear  to  remind  us  that  we  are  the  heirs  of  all 
the  Christian  ages,  that  truth  is  eternal,  and  that  the 
faith  we  love  has  been  the  anchor  and  stay  of  millions 
before  us.  So  while  many  of  our  older  city  churches 
and  most  of  our  country  churches  are  still  barren  of 
all  suggestions  of  religion,  the  newer  churches  are 
showing  a  rejuvenated  interest  in  religious  art.  Crosses 
of  various  devices  appear,  doves  and  fish,  monograms 
of  Christ,  Alphas  and  Omegas  and  even  the  apostles 
take  their  stand,  sheltered  in  their  canopied  niches, 
wearing  their  appropriate  heraldry  as  true  knights  of 
the  cross.    This  is  as  it  should  be. 

Scrutinize  the  building  carefully,  inside  and  out, 
using  the  list  of  symbols  in  this  book  or  in  the  survey 
forms.  Thus  will  you  gather  up  these  precious  frag- 
ments of  the  faith  of  Christendom  and  enable  the 
teachers  of  religion  to  interpret  them  for  our  children. 
They  are  food  for  the  intellect  and  the  soul. 

3.  What  messages  do  the  windows  convey? 

The  arts  of  the  mosaicists  and  the  painters  upon 
glass  are  the  most  ancient  in  the  service  of  the  church. 


COMMUNITY  RESOURCES  141 

These  artists  also  suffered  in  the  Puritan  revolt  and 
are  only  now  once  more  coming  to  their  own.  Chiefly 
is  this  true  of  glass.  Gradually  among  churches,  plain 
glass  gave  way  to  frosted  or  tinted  panes,  then  to  hideous 
geometric  designs  that  furnished  ''dim"  but  not  "re- 
ligious" light,  and  now  at  last  many  of  our  churches 
glory  in  "storied  windows  richly  dight"  such  as  Milton 
loved.  Study  these  windows  in  detail,  identify  their 
subject,  discover  their  symbolism  of  form  and  color  and 
determine  to  what  extent  they  aid  the  development 
of  the  religious  attitude  in  worship,  or  suggest  inspiring 
vistas  of  thought  for  faith  to  wander  in,  for  the  object 
of  all  these  arts  is  not  to  compel  assent  to  a  creed  but 
to  set  free  the  heart  for  the  worship  of  the  historic 
Christ  and  the  ever-living  God. 

Pictures. — Having  discovered  the  art  material  in 
the  church  edifice,  turn  next  to  the  pictorial  decoration 
of  its  various  rooms,  including  the  church-school  room 
and  the  parish  house.  Omit  the  great  number  of  photo- 
graphs of  beloved  pastors  and  deacons  and  turn  to 
such  photographs  and  other  representations  as  illus- 
trate the  truths  of  religion.  List  these  by  artists  and 
by  subjects;  if  you  do  not  recognize  either  artist  or 
theme,  you  can  usually  identify  them  by  getting  an 
illustrated  catalogue  of  penny-print  pictures.  (See 
Preface.) 

Note  also  whether  these  pictures  are  well  placed, 
for  if  they  are  too  high  or  too  poorly  lighted  to  be  seen, 
they  are  valueless.  A  hint  to  the  proper  person  may 
make  these  valueless  pictures  useful.  Some  church 
schools  have  collections  of  prints,  usually  in  connection 
with  the  Beginners  and  Primary  Departments,  for 
use  in  teaching.  List  these  also.  Use  your  best  judg- 
ment, however,  and  rule  out  all  insipid  pictures,  those 


142         ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

poor  in  workmanship  and  those  which  fail  to  qualify 
for  rehgious  value  as  indicated  in  the  previous  chapters. 

Other  public  buildings. — Our  next  resource  is  likely 
to  be  the  day  school.  Fortunately,  most  of  the  world's 
great  painters  and  artists  served  the  church.  Any 
exhibition,  therefore,  of  the  work  of  great  artists  is 
sure  to  contain  something  of  religious  value.  Our 
modern  school  buildings  are  many  of  them  veritable 
picture  galleries  in  which  may  be  seen  in  large  sepia 
photographs  some  of  the  finest  religious  masterpieces 
of  the  world.  List  these.  A  personally  conducted 
tour  through  the  corridors  of  such  a  school  is  in  itself 
the  beginning  of  an  education  both  in  art  and  religion. 

Our  public  libraries  are  storehouses,  too  little  drawn 
upon.  Most  Hbraries  are  fairly  well  stocked  with 
photographs  of  old  masters  and  of  cathedrals;  and 
many  others  have  the  poUcy  of  buying  any  standard 
subjects  that  a  client  may  desire.  Moreover,  in  the 
thousands  of  books  on  the  shelves  are  no  end  of  pic- 
tures of  all  kinds,  patiently  waiting  until  some  stray 
hunter  of  pictures  finds  them.  It  might  be  possible 
to  secure  the  cooperation  of  the  Ubrary  staft' — than 
whom  there  is  no  more  generous  class  of  public  servant 
— in  making  a  bibliography  of  all  works  on  religious 
art,  and  listing  valuable  pictures  in  good  books  and 
bound  volumes  of  magazines.  Such  a  list  catalogued 
by  subject,  either  on  the  basis  of  Scripture  incident 
or  religious  motive,  or  both,  would  be  of  the  very  great- 
est use  to  teachers  of  all  grades.  If  interest  were  once 
aroused  in  this  direction,  it  might  mean  a  very  liberal 
increase  in  the  library  resources  in  religious  art  year 
by  year,  to  the  immense  benefit  of  the  public. 

If  a  community  is  so  fortunate  as  to  have  an  art 
museum,  list  its  works  of  religious  art,  its  photographs 


COMMUNITY  RESOURCES  143 

and  books  as  you  did  those  of  the  schools  and  libraries. 
Occasionally  a  community  is  so  fortunate  as  to  have 
in  its  parks  or  squares  some  piece  of  statuary  that  has 
religious  value.     By  all  means  list  such  subjects. 

Homes. — Numerically,  the  art  objects  in  the  homes 
of  the  community  outweigh  all  other  sources;  but  it 
is  almost  an  impossible  task  to  list  this  mass  of  material. 
If  some  citizen  happens  to  own  a  genuine,  original 
masterpiece,  that  fact  is  generally  known  and  access 
to  it  is  easily  obtained.  The  author  remembers  with 
particular  pleasure  his  visit  with  a  large  class  of  young 
ladies  to  the  home  of  Dr.  F.  N.  Kennedy,  of  Hyde 
Park,  Massachusetts,  to  see  Merson's  ' 'Repose  in 
Eg5rpt."  But  to  discover  lesser  works  is  more  difficult. 
It  might  be  well  to  advertise  the  art  survey  in  church 
calendars  and  even  in  newspapers,  suggesting  that  if 
any  people  have  especially  fine  or  unusual  works  of 
religious  art  in  their  homes  and  were  willing  that  they 
should  be  used  in  religious  education,  they  might  send 
a  list  to  the  undersigned. 

The  results  of  this  survey  should  be  tabulated,  class- 
ified, and  evaluated  by  some  skilled  person;  and  then 
printed,  if  possible,  and  put  in  the  hands  of  teachers 
of  religion  in  the  community.  The  task  of  the  teacher 
is  to  utilize  the  material.  How  it  may  be  utilized  it 
has  been  the  function  of  this  book  in  part  at  least  to 
suggest. 

Persons. — All  of  the  community  resources  are  of 
little  avail  for  religious  education  unless  some  one 
uses  them.  Some  one  must  discover,  understand,  love, 
and  teach  the  art  that  now  lies  unnoticed  and  ineffective. 
Who  shall  do  this  discovering  and  this  teaching?  Nat- 
urally, those  in  the  community  who  through  training 
and  opportunity  have  the  knowledge,  or  at  least  suffi- 


144        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

dent  cultural  backgrounds,  easily  to  acquire  the 
knowledge  necessary  for  this  work.  When  first 
approached  most  people  will  say  that  they  know  too 
little  about  art.  But  technical  knowledge  is  not  nec- 
essary. The  chief  requisites  are  a  desire  to  learn  and 
to  teach,  a  pair  of  sharp  eyes,  quick  sympathy,  and 
a  willingness  to  spend  enough  time  to  do  the  job. 
Granted  the  desire,  the  other  requisites  can  be  ac- 
quired. The  field  is  wide,  the  opportunity  inviting, 
the  service  to  be  rendered  is  incalculable.  Who  will 
enter  and  possess  the  land? 


BLANKS  FOR  A  COMMUNITY  SURVEY  OF 
RELIGIOUS  ART 

Form  A 
GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS 

I.  MATERIALS 

I.  Principles  of  Selection 

Objects  of  art  have  value  for  religious  education 
only  if  they  embody  and  emotionalize  religious  ideas. 
The  fundamental  ideas  of  Christianity  are: 

a.  God  can  and  does  come  into  direct  contact  with 
man. 

The  human  side  of  these  contacts  we  call 
inspiration,  the  call  of  duty,  Providence,  con- 
science, remorse,  conviction,  conversion,  com- 
munion, etc. 
h.  Men  need  one  another. 

Evidences  of  this  truth  are  found  in  the 
instincts  of  friendship,  love,  brotherhood,  pity, 
etc.,  and  the  facts  of  poverty,  ignorance,  disease, 
death,  discouragement,  selfishness,  failure,  and 
the  saving  influence  of  sympathy. 

c.  Cooperation  for  the  common  good  even  to  self- 

sacrifice  is  the  Christian  way  of  life. 

This  principle  finds  embodiment  in  parental 
love  and  all  kinds  of  altruism,  and  in  loyalties 
to  a  principle,  a  cause,  a  country,  a  church. 

d.  The  Christian  spirit  has  found  expression  in  a 

visible  church,  which  through  the  centuries 
has  nourished  the  spiritual  life  of  the  world. 
We  are  all  children  of  this  spiritual  mother. 
145 


146        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Memorials  of  this  historic  life  are  found  in 
church    buildings,    specific    personalities    and 
events,  doctrines,  institutions,  rituals,  decora- 
tions, symbols.    Knowledge  of  these  memorials 
can  be  made  to  issue  in  reverence,  worship,  awe, 
tolerance,  conviction,  the  sense  of  participation 
in  a  cosmic  process,  the  duty  to  ''carry  on." 
In  making  your  survey,  ask  yourself  this  question : 
"Which  of  these  ideas,  principles,  sentiments,  feelings, 
are  embodied  in  this  particular  work  of  art?"    If  you 
can  find  one  or  more,  list  the  work  as  valuable;  if  not, 
pass  it  by. 

2.  Possible  Sources  of  Material. 
a.  Church  Buildings.    See  Form  B. 
h.  Museums,    Art    Galleries,    Public    Monuments. 
See  Form  D. 

Examine  the  antiquities,  paintings,  sculpture, 
and  other  collections  or  objects,  and  list  what  is 
available. 

c.  Libraries.    See  Form  D. 

Most  libraries  contain  more  or  less  art  ma- 
terial, as  photos  of  buildings,  paintings  and 
statues,  or  of  historic  places  and  characters. 
Many  books  and  magazines  also  contain  val- 
uable material.  Enlist  the  interest  and,  if 
possible,  the  assistance  of  the  library  staff  in 
digging  out  these  resources. 

d.  Church,  Church  School  and  Public  School  Collec- 

tions.   See  Forms  C  and  D. 

What  pictures  are  upon  the  walls  of  the 
auditorium,  school  rooms,  chapel,  parivSh  house? 
What  stock  of  illustrative  material  has  the 
church  school  for  use  in  the  different  depart- 
ments ? 

e.  Private  Collections  or  Individual  Pieces.      See 

Form  D. 


BLANKS  FOR  A  SURVEY  147 

Through  notices  in  church  calendars  or  local 
papers,  individuals  who  have  good  material  in 
their  houses  and  who  would  be  willing  to  have 
it  used,  may  be  induced  to  send  in  an  inventory. 
Follow  this  with  a  personal  inspection. 
/.  It  is  possible  for  institutions  and  individuals 
to  buy  reproductions  of  works  of  art,  usually  at 
very  reasonable  prices.  Consult  the  catalogues 
of  art  publishers.  This  material  is  not  to  be  in- 
cluded in  your  survey,  but  should  be  borne  in 
mind  as  a  perpetual  resource. 

II.  PERSONS.    See  Form  E. 

Material  is  of  little  value  unless  someone  knows  how 
to  use  it.  The  teacher  is  the  crux  of  the  problem  of 
religious  education. 

1.  Find  out  by  personal  inquiry  who  are  the  college- 
trained  men  and  women  of  the  community,  and  which 
of  these  have  had  any  instruction  in  art  history  or 
appreciation. 

2.  From  the  Woman's  Club  secretary  find  who  have 
attended  art  courses  in  recent  years. 

3.  Has  the  community  any  art  students,  architects, 
or  artists  who  have  also  an  active  interest  in  religion? 

4.  Failing  these,  find  people  whose  general  culture 
and  character  are  likely  to  make  them  successful  as 
teachers  of  religion  in  art. 

5.  By  a  conference  of  such  people,  try  to  induce 
as  many  of  them  as  possible  to  undertake  their  own 
education  in  religious  art,  and  suggest,  if  possible,  ways 
by  which  this  education  may  be  promoted.  If  the  com- 
munity has  a  school  of  religious  education,  see  that 
religious  art  is  introduced  as  a  course  of  study,  in  order 
that  in  the  near  future  a  supply  of  teachers  may  be 
available. 

6.  Is  any  person  in  the  community  now  giving  a 
course  in  religious  art?   If  so,  give  full  particulars. 


148        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Form  B 

CHURCH  BUILDINGS 

Name  of  Church Location :  Street 

City  or  Town State 


1.  Material  (wood,  brick,  concrete,  stone). 

2.  Plan  (i) — ^use  letters. 

3.  Form  of  Windows  and  Doors  (2) — use  letters. 

4.  How  many  stained  glass  windows? 

Pictorial  or  Decorative? 

5.  Type  of  Architecture  (3) — ^use  letters. 

6.  General  effect  (4) — use  letters. 

7.  Inscriptions  (other  than  personal  memorials). 

8.  Symbolism:  Indicate  by  a  check  mark. 


List  of  Symbols 

Symbols  Position  (5)       Symbols               Position 

Alpha  and  Omega  I  H  S 

Anchor  IC  XC 

Angel  Ivy 

Balance  Keys 

Book  Ladder 

Censer  Lamb 

Chalice  Lamb  with  Banner 

Circle  Lamp 

Circles,  three  Lance 

Cross  (6)  Lily 

Cross  and  Crown  Lion 

Crown  Lion  and  Dragon  or  Serpent 

Dove  Lion,  winged 

Dragon  Man,  winged 

Eagle  Monogram  of  Christ 

Fish  Nails 

Grapes  -               Oak  leaves 

Heart  Orb  crowned 


BLANKS  FOR  A  SURVEY  149 

List  of  Symbols 
Symbols  Position  (5)       Symbols  Position 

Ox,  win^^ed  Star,  7 -pointed 

Palm  branch  Sun 

Passion  flower  Sword 

Pelican  Tree  and  birds 

Quatrefoil  Trefoil 

Reed  Thorns,  crown  of 

Rose  lYiangle 

Serjxint  Triangles,  three 

Shell  Vine 

Ship  Wheat 

Star,  5 -pointed  Wreath 
Star,  6-pointed 

(Notes) 
(i)  A — Amphitheater;  sloping  floor,  aisles  radiating. 

B — Basilica;  divided  by  fjillars  into  nave  and  aisles,  an 

apse  but  no  tran^x^pt. 
C — Cruciform;  Greek  or  Latin  cross,  with  projecting 
transepts. 

(2;  S — Square  top. 
R — Round  top. 
P — Pointed  top. 
C — Circnilar. 

(3)  Which  of  these  styles  does  it  mainly  follow :  i .  Classic 
Clike  Greek  temple).  2.  Romanesque.  3.  Domed 
Byzantine.  4.  Italian.  5.  Continental  Gothic  (tall, 
narrow;  lancet  windows;.  6.  English  Gothic 
(broader,  low  pointed  doors  and  windows;.  7.  Re- 
naissance. 8.  Colonial.  9.  Just  plain  "Meeting- 
house." 


150         ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

(4)  A — Ecclesiastical  and  Impressive. 

B — Appropriate  but  not  Impressive. 
C — Coloriess  or  poverty-stricken. 

(5)  For  example,  on  altar,  pulpit,   organ,  wall  (fresco), 

window,  carved  dado,  platform,  furniture,  pews, 
outside  carving,  etc. 

(6)  Indicate  by  number  the  varieties  found : 

I.  Latin.  2.  Greek.  3.  Calvary.  4.  Pattee  (often 
called  Maltese).  5.  Flowering  cross  of  any  pattern. 
6.  CrucifLx.    7.  Gable  cross  with  circle. 

Survey  made  by 

Address 


Date. 


BLANKS  FOR  A  SURVEY 


151 


Form  C 
PICTURES  IN  CHURCH  OR  PARISH  HOUSE 

Name  of  Church Location :  Street 

City  or  Town State 


Artist 


Subject 


Kind(i) 


EasHy 
seen  (2) 


Special  Sig- 
nificance   (3) 


Suited  to  what 
grade  (4) 


(i)  C— Color  Print.       (2)  Yes  or  No. 
F — Fresco. 

H — Half-tone.  (3)  Which  of  the  four  aspects  of 

P — Painting.  religion  as  outHned  in  Form 

Ph — Photograph.  A  are  presented  with  special 

S — Stained  Glass.  force?   Indicate  by  letter: 

M — Mosaic.  a.  God  and  man  in  personal 

contact. 

(4)  Use  letters:  b.  Human  need. 

B — Beginners.  c.  Human  cooperation. 

P — Primary.  d.  Visualizing  and  emotional- 

J — Junior.  izing     some    person    or 

S — Senior.  teaching  connected  with 

A — ^Adult.  Christianity. 

Survey  made  by 

Address 

Dat€ 


152 


ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 


Form  D 
MISCELLANEOUS  MATERIAL 

Books  in  home,  public  or  school  library  relating  to  re- 
ligious art  or  containing  religious  pictures;  Religious 
Pictures  in  home,  public  library,  or  school  buildings; 
Statuary,  Jewelry,  Bric-a-brac,  etc.  Note  the  following 
specialties : 

1 .  Museums.   File  catalogue  and  annual  reports. 

2.  Libraries  (school,  college,  or  public).    Compile  bibliog- 

raphies of  books  and  magazine  articles  relating  to 
religious  art,  and  of  photographs  and  other  reproduc- 
tions that  have  a  religious  value. 

3.  Monuments  and  Statuary  in  public  places.    List  each 

piece  that  has  religious  value  under  the  following 
heads:  (a)  artist,  (6)  subject,  (c)  material,  {d)  how 
acquired  by  the  community,  {e)  name  and  address  of 
personal  donor,  if  living. 

4.  Works   of  Religious   Art,    privately   o-^med.    List   all 

original  works  as  far  as  they  can  be  discovered;  also 
all  especially  fine  reproductions  of  originals.  Use  the 
heads  (a)  artist,  ib)  subject,  (c)  medium,  {d)  owner, 
{e)  address. 

5.  Firms  that  manufacture  and  sell  art  goods. 
Use  this  form  for  purposes  of  evaluation: 


Object 


Where  found 
owner,  address 


Special 
Significance  (i) 


Suited  to 
what  grade  (2) 


BLANKS  FOR  A  SURVEY  153 

{Notes) 

(i)  Which  of  the  four  aspects  of  rehgion  as  outlined  in 
Form  A  are  presented  with  special  force?  Indicate  by- 
letter :  a.  God  and  man  in  personal  contact,  h.  Human 
Need.  c.  Human  cooperation,  d.  Visualizing  and  emo- 
tionalizing some  person  or  teaching  connected  with 
Christianity. 

(2)  Use  letters:  B — Beginners.  P — Primary.  J — 
Juniors.    S — Seniors.    A — Adult. 

Survey  made  by 

Address 

Date 


Form  E 
PERSONS 


Name 


Training,  qualifications 
and  work  done 


Survey  made  by, 
Address 

Date 


PICTURE  LIST 

Buildings 

(Arranged  Alphabetically  by  Places) 

Agra:  Taj  Mahal.     P  191 5. 
Aix-la-Chapelle:  Cathedral.  \J.G48 1-482. 
Athens:  Parthenon.   U.  G41-4J. 
Basilica  plans:  U.  G124. 
Bayeux:  Cathedral.   U.  G2j^. 
Boston:  Trinity  Church.   B  119. 
Cambridge:  King's  College  Chapel.    U.  Gj^j, 
Chartres:  Cathedral.   U.  G268-2yj. 
Cologne:  Church  of  the  Apostles.   U.  G486. 

"     :  Cathedral.   U.  G268-273. 
Constantinople:  Sancta  Sophia.   U.  G110-115. 
Durham:  Cathedral.   U.  G362-363. 
Gizeh:  Pyramids.  U.  Mioj. 
Gothic:  U.  G48j-4g8  (German  Gothic). 

"     :  U.  G444,  446-44g  (Spanish  Gothic). 

"    :  U.  G162-164,    152,    201-202,    B404    (Italian 
Gothic). 
Hangchow:  Six  Harmonies  Pagoda.    See  "Asia/*  May, 

1921,  p.  418. 
Karnak:  U.  G18. 

Lincoln:  Cathedral.  U.  Gj8j-j8g. 
London:  Cathedral  of  Westminster. 

"      :  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.   U.  G427-428. 
Mesopotamia:  Ziggurat.  U.  G28. 
Nikko:  Mausoleum  of  leyasu.   P  1899. 
Paris:  Church  of  the  Madeleine.   P  1537. 
Pisa:  Cathedral,    Baptistry    and   Leaning   Tower.     U. 
G184-187. 

154 


PICTURE  LIST  155 

Ravenna:  St.  Apollinare  in  Classe.    P  1731. 

"      :  St.  Apollinare  in  Nuovo.  U.  G122. 
Rome:  Santa  Maria  Maggiore.   FF.   PI.  76. 

"    :  St.  Paul  without  the  walls.   U.  G128. 

"    :  Catacombs.  U.  B41-42. 

''    :  St.  Peter's.  U.  6233-235. 
Saqqara:  Tomb  of  Ti.   U.  Mi  10,  118. 
Salisbury:  Cathedral.  U.  G404-406. 
Thebes:  Medinet  Habu.  U.  G22. 
Venice:  St.  Mark's  Cathedral.    U.  Gig8-200,  B34,  B40, 

B374' 
York:  Minster.  U.  641^-41^, 

Pictures  and  Statues 

(Arranged  Alphabetically  by  Artists) 

Abbey,  A.:  Jacob  Wrestling.  R,  12. 
"       "  :  Jael  and  Sisera.  R,  30. 
"       "  :  Deborah.  R,  31. 
"       "  :  Gideon.  R,  32. 
"       "  :  Jesus  Stands  at  the  Door.  R,  99. 
Abbey,  Edwin:  Grail  Legend  (photos  only). 
Aertszen:  Journey  to  Calvary.  L. 
Alma-Tadema:  The  Lord  Slays  the  First-bom.  R,  18. 
Anderson:  ^'Neither  Do  I  Condemn  Thee."   L. 
Angelico,  Era:  Christ  as  Pilgrim.  U.  Bug. 
"  :  Crucifixion.  U.  B122. 
"  :  Annunciation.  U.  B120. 
"  :  Descent  into  Limbo.  Ba. 
"  :  Last  Judgment.  U.  B116-118. 
Armitage:  Remorse  of  Judas.  Ba. 
Aubert:  Jesus  Christ  Healing  the  Sick.   S.  N.T.  I  149. 

Bacon:  Christ  in  Gethsemane.  Ba. 


156        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Bastien-Lepage:  Joan  of  Arc.  U.  Bi'/z. 

Beraud:  Journey  to  Calvary  (photo  only). 

Bloch:  "Come  unto  Me."  P  3302. 

"Bonifazio,  I.:  Parable  of  the  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus.  U. 

^339-340- 
Bonnat:  The  Youth  of  Samson.    S.  O.T.  11.  48. 
Botticelli :  Moses  and  the  Daughters  of  Jethro.    S.  O.T. 

opp.  144. 
Bouguereau:  Compassion.  L. 

"        :  The  First  Death.  P  570. 
Bouguereau,  Mme. :  David   as    Good    Shepherd.      Up. 

O.T.  39. 
Breton:  The  Divine  Apprentice.  L. 
Brickdale:  St.  Christopher  (London  Art  Society). 
Brion:  The  End  of  the  Deluge.    S.  O.T.  60. 
Brown,  F.  M.:  The   Coat  of  Many  Colors.     S.   O.T. 
opp.  116. 
"       "    "    :  Elijah  Restoring  the  Widow's  Son.  S. 

O.T.  II.  108. 
"       "    "    :  Washing  the  Disciples'  Feet.    Ba. 
Brozik:  Condemnation  of  John  Huss. 
Brozik:  Restoration  of  the  Widow's  Son.   R,  48. 
Bruk-Lajos:  Ruth  Gleaning.    S.  O.T.  II.  60. 
Bulleid:  Crucifixion  (photo  only). 

"     :  Annunciation.    S.  O.T.  III.  28. 
Burnand:  Great  Supper.    Ba. 
Burne- Jones:  Morning  of  the  Resurrection.   Ba. 

"        "    :  Crucifixion    (window).     Bell:    Sir    Edw. 

Burne- Jones,  p.  78. 
"        "    :  Tree  of  Life   (Mosaic,  Rome).      S.  O.T. 

nL:54. 

"        ''    :  Star  of  Bethlehem.   U.  F143. 
"        "    :  Nativity  (window).  Bell:  op.  cit.  p.  78  bis. 
Burton,  W.  S.:  The  World's  Ingratitude.   T.  163. 


PICTURE  LIST  157 

Calderon:  Ruth  and  Naomi.   Up.  O.T.  31. 

Carri^re:  Crucifixion.    Ba. 

Catacombs:  Frescoes  in   the   Roman   Catacombs.     U. 

B41-43. 
Ciseri:  "Ecce  Homo."    B.  90. 

"    :  Entombment.    Ba. 
Constant,  B.:  Raising  of  Lazarus.   R,  81. 
"  :  Crucifixion.    R,  88. 
"  "  :  Arrest  of  Jesus.    R,  85. 

Copping:  The  Well  at  Sychar.   Up.  N.T.  166. 

:  Paul  on  the  Castle  Stairs.   Up.  N.T.  190. 
Cormon:  Cain  and  His  Family.    S.  O.T.  53. 
Cornicelius:  Temptation  of  Christ.    B.  861. 
Crivelli:  Annunciation.   U.  B382. 


Dagnan-Bouveret:  Madonna  of  the  Shop.   P.  613. 
"  "       :  Madonna    with    the    Infant    Jesus. 

P.  609. 
"  "       :  Disciples  at  Emmaus.  L. 

"       :  The  Christ  Child.  L. 
Da  Vinci:  Last  Supper.   U.  C3-8. 

"      "    :  Study  of  the  Head  of  Christ.   U.  C9. 
Delaroche:  Moses  in  the  Bulrushes.   S.  O.T.  143. 
Dicksee:  The  Arrow  of  the  Lord's  Victory.   R,  54. 
Dietrich:  Christ's  Call  to  the  Sick  and  Weary.   T.  136. 
Dobson:  Raising  the  Widow's  Son  at  Nain.   T.  132. 
Dollman:  Anno  Domini  (color  print,  New  York). 

"        :  Judas  Iscariot.   T.  165. 
Du  Mond :  Baptism  of  Christ.   L. 
Durer:  Little  Passion  Series  (See  books  of  Durer's  en- 
gravings). 
"     :  Greater  Passion  Series  (ditto). 
"     :  Adoration  of  the  Trinity.   U.  D403. 


158        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Ehrler:  Angel  of  Mortality.  Up.  O.T.  73. 
Ender:  Holy  Woman  at  the  Tomb.   P.  3330. 

Fellowes-Prynne:  The  Desire  of  All  Nations.   L. 
Firle:  Holy  Night.   S.  O.T.  HI.  14. 

"  :  Der  Glaube.   L. 
Flandrin,  H. :  Moses  and  the  Burning  Bush.  S.  O.T.  149. 

Gebhardt,  von :  Christ  and  the  Rich  Young  Man.  Ba. 
"  "  :  Raising  of  Lazarus.    Ba. 

"  "  :  Jacob  Wrestling.   S.  O.T.  frontispiece. 

Geiger:  Kiss  of  Betrayal.   P.  834. 

Gentile  da  Fabriano:  Adoration  of  the  Kings.   U.  Bji2. 
G^rome:  Last  Supper.   R,  84. 

"      :  Battle  with  the  Amalekites.    R,  20. 

"      :  Golgotha.    P.  3048. 

"      :  Rizpah.   R,  45. 
Ghirlandaio:  Nativity.   U.  B20^. 
Giotto:  Frescoes  in  the  Arena  Chapel,  Padua.  U.  B^y-yi. 

"    :  Frescoes  in  Church  of  St.  Francis  at  Assisi.    U. 

B53,  55-56' 
Girardet:  Flight  into  Egypt.    S.  N.T.   I.  94. 

"        :  Walk  to  Emmaus.   Ba. 

"        :  Supper  at  Emmaus.    S.   N.T.  276. 
Goodall:  By  the  Sea  of  Galilee.   T.  129. 

Hacker,  A.:  Annunciation.    T.  108. 

*'         "  :  Christ  and  the  Magdalene.    L. 

"         "  :  "And  there  was  a  great  cry."  Up.  O.T.  14. 
Harrach,  von:  Peter's  Denial.    P.  3250. 

"    :  "Lovest  Thou  Me?"   Up.  N.T.  176. 
Hofmann:  Omnipresence  of  Christ.    P.  7973. 

"        :  Gethsemane.    B.  401. 

"        :  Christ  and  the  Rich  Young  Man.    P.  802. 


i 


PICTURE  LIST  159 

Hunt,  W.  Holman:  Finding  of  Christ  in  the  Temple. 

P.  965- 
"      "  "      :  Triumph  of  the  Innocents.    Ba. 

"      "  "      :  Light  of  the  World.   U.  F124. 

"      "  "      :  Shadow  of  Death.   B.  1721. 

Israels,  J. :  David  before  Saul.    R,  40. 
"      "  :  David  and  Goliath.    R,  41. 

Jacomb-Hood:  Raising  of  Jairus'  Daughter.    T.  135. 
•»Joy,  G.  W. :  The  Merchantman  and  the  Pearl  of  Great 

Price.    S.  N.T.  I.  155. 
Justus  of  Ghent:  Last  Supper.    U.  D35. 

Keller,  A.:  Raising  the  Daughter  of  Jairus.   B.  1839. 
Kirchbach:  Cleansing  the  Temple.    P.  3268. 
"         :  Jesus  the  Friend  of  Children.   L. 
Klinger,  M.:  Christ  on  Olympus.    L. 
Kowalski :  Childhood  of  Jesus.    L. 
Kiisthardt:  "Peace  Be  unto  You."    L. 

Laurens,  J.  P.:  Vision  of  Manoah.    R,  35. 
Leduc:  Temptation  in  the  Desert.    L. 
Lerolle:  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds.   U.  MEjj. 
Le  Sueur:  St.  Paul  at  Ephesus.    S.  N.T.  11.  84. 
Lippi,  Era  Eilippo:  Annunciation.   U.  8154-155. 
Liska:  Gethsemane.   P.  3061. 
Long,  Edwin:  Diana  or  Christ.   P.  3290. 
"    :  "Anno  Domini."  Ba. 

Maclise:  Noah's  Sacrifice.    S.  O.T.  63. 
Max:  Jesus  Christ  (Veronica's  Handkerchief).   Ba. 
Merson:  Repose  in  Egypt.    B.  729. 
"     :  Arrival  at  Bethlehem.   B.  730. 


i6o        ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Meurisse-Franchomme :  Concert  of  Angels.    L. 

Meyer,  K.:  Judas.    L. 

Michelangelo:  Last  Judgment.   V.  €134-136. 

"  :  Sistine  Ceiling.   U.  MCg,  C105-128, 

"  :  Moses  (statue).   U.  C451. 

Michetti:  Conversion  of  Saul.   R,  94. 

"      :  Annunciation.    R,  68. 
Millais:  Christ  in  the  Home  of  his  Parents.    Ba. 

"     :  St.  Stephen.   S.  N.T.  II.  48. 

"     :  Enemy  Sowing  Tares.   Ba. 

"     :  ^'Victory,  0  Lord."   Up.  O.T.  17. 
Millet:  The  Sower.    U.  E108, 
Morelli:  Christ  Tempted  in  the  Wilderness.   L. 

"     :  Jesus  in  Galilee.   R,  78. 
Morris:  Shadow  of  the  Cross.   B.  1724. 
Mosaics:  For  a  large  variety  of  mosaic  decorations,  see 

U.  B17-40. 
Munkacsy:  Christ  before  Pilate.   P.  831. 
Murillo:  Immaculate  Conception.    U.  E243, 
Normand,  E.:  Death  of  Pharaoh's  First-born.    S.  O.T. 

155- 
"  :  David  and  Saul.   Up.  O.T.  38. 
"         "  :  Esther    Denouncing    Haman.     S.    O.T. 
II.  132. 


Pape:  Light  in  Egypt.    T.  118. 

Pauwels:    ''Ye  shall  seek  Me  and  find  Me."     S.  O.T. 

111:56. 
Parsons,  Beatrice:  Annunciation.   L. 
Penrose,  J.  D.:  Jacob  Wrestling.   Up.  O.T.  7. 
Phideas:  Olympian  Zeus.    U.  A48y. 

"      :  Athena  Parthenos.    U.  Agy. 
Piglhein:  Entombment.    Ba. 


PICTURE  LIST  i6i 

Poynter,  E.  J.:  Joseph  Introducing  Jacob  to  Pharaoh. 
Up.  O.T.  9. 
u    u  .  ujj^gy  ^^^^  ^j^^jj.  j.^gg  bitter."    Up. 

O.T.  II. 
Praxiteles:  Hermes  at  Olympia.    U.  Aigo. 
Prell:  Judas  Receiving  the  Silver.    P.  6932. 
Puvis  de  Chavannes:  Prodigal  Son.    Ba. 

"     "  "        :  History  of   Ste.    Genevieve.     U. 

Eij8-ijg,  14J. 
"    "  "        :  Beheading  of  John  the  Baptist. 

Ba. 
Pyke-Nott:  "Justified  rather  than  the  other."   L. 

Raphael:  Sistine  Madonna.    U.  Cig6. 

"      :  St.  Peter's  Deliverance  from  Prison.   U.  Ciy8. 
"      :  Transfiguration.    U.  C 200-201. 
"      :  Stanze  (Vatican).    U.  C 160-16 j,  lyi. 
Reni:  "Ecce  Homo."    B.  634. 
Repin,  I.:  Hannah's  Prayer.    R,  38. 
Reynolds:  The  Infant  Samuel.    U.  MF2. 
Riviere:  Prometheus  (photo). 

"      :  Daniel  (among  the  lions).   Up.  O.T.  96. 
"      :  Temptation  in  the  Wilderness.   T.  124. 
"      :  Daniel's  Answer  to  the  King.    S.   O.T.  III.  79. 
Robbia,  Luca  della:  Ascension.   U.  B^^S. 
Rochegrasse:  The  Tables  of  the  Law.   R,  26. 

"  :  The  Madness  of  Nebuchadnezzar.     Up. 

O.T.  93. 
Rodin:  Prodigal  Son.    Ba. 

Roederstein:  ''Suffer  the  Little  Ones."   S.  N.T.  I.  122. 
Rossetti:  Ecce  Ancilla  Domini.    U.  F126. 
Rubens:  Christ  in  the  House  of  Simon.   Ba. 

"       :  Crucifixion.    U.  BiiS. 
Ryland:  Ruth.    S.  O.T.  11.  62. 


i62         ART  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

Sant,  J.:  Child  Samuel.   Up.  O.T.  35. 

"      ^'  :  Infant  Timothy.    S.  N.T.  p.  80. 
Scheurenberg:  Mary  Meets  a  Shepherd  Boy.   L. 
Schmidt:  Suffer  Little  Children.   L. 
Schneider,  S.:  Egyptians  Overthrown  in  the  Red  Sea. 

R,  19. 
Schode:  Children's  Friend.   L. 
Scott:  The  Eve  of  the  Deluge.    S.  O.T.  57. 
Seligmann:  Holy  Family.   L. 
Shields:  St.  Paul  in  Rome.   Up.  N.T.  191. 

"      :  David.    S.  O.T.  11.  68. 
Siemiradski:  Christ  and  the  Woman  of  Samaria.   L. 
Skredsvig:  The  Son  of  Man.   L. 
Solomon:  Samson  Bound.   S.  O.T.  II.  54. 
Soord:  The  Good  Shepherd.    Ba. 
Speed,    H.:  Joseph   Interprets   Pharaoh's   Dream.      S. 

O.T.  122. 
Starr-Canziani :  David  Brought  Before  Saul.  Up.  O.T.  40. 
Swan,  J.  M.:  Cities  of  Refuge.   R,  25. 

"      "    "  :  Prodigal  Son.   T.  146. 

"      "    ''   :  Burning  Bush.    R,  17. 

Tanner,  H.  O. :  Raising  of  Lazarus.   L. 
Taylor,  W.  L.:  Boy  Christ.   Up.  N.T.  141. 

"     "  :  "When  I  Consider  Thy  Heavens."   Up. 

O.T.  70. 
"     "  :  ^'He  shall  give  His  Angels  charge."   Up. 
O.T.  74. 
Thiersch:  The  Cross  Bearer.   P.  3266. 
Tiepolo:  Journey  to  Calvary.    U.  C4ig. 
Tissot:  Prodigal's  Return.   Ba. 

"      :  Joseph  and  His  Brothers.   Ts. 
Titian:  Tribute  Money.   U.  C26g. 
"      :  The  Entombment.    U.  C2yg. 


PICTURE  LIST  163 

Told,  H.:  Peter's  Denial.    Up.  N.T.  158. 
Topham:  Hannah,  Eli  and  the  Infant  Samuel.    S.  O.T. 
II.  64. 
"       :  Naaman's  Wife  and  the  Captive  Maid.    Up. 
O.T.  53. 
Turner:  Odysseus  Deriding  Polyphemus.    U.  Fpj. 

Uhde,  von:  Ascension.    Ba. 

:  Raising  the  Brazen  Serpent.   R,  24. 

:  Easter  Morning.    P.  838. 

:  Suffer  Little  Children.    Ba. 

:  Testing  of  Abraham.    Up.  O.T.  6. 

:  The  Lord  Appears  to  Abraham.    R,  7. 
Unknown:  Spanish  Chapel  Frescoes,  Florence.  U.  Bioj- 

lO'/. 

"        :  Campo  Santo  Frescoes,  Pisa.    U.  Bg8-i02. 

Van  der  Goes:  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds:    U.  047. 
VanderWerff:  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.    S.  N.T. 

IL  12. 
Van  der  Weyden:  Adoration  of  the  Magi.    U.  D20. 

"      "  "      :  Descent  from  the  Cross.    U.  D24. 

Van  Dyck:  Arrest  of  Jesus.   U.  D161. 
Van  Eyck,  H. :  Adoration  of  the  Lamb.    U.  Di-8. 
Verrocchio:  Baptism  of  Christ.   U.  Bigi. 

Watts:  Allegories  in  the  Tate  Gallery.    U.  F 1 18-12 1. 
P.  940b,  940c,  94oe,  94of,  940J,  940k. 
"     :  "For  he  had  great  possessions."   Ba. 
"    :  "Sir  Galahad"  (Eton  College).   P.  940. 

Zimmermann:  Christ  and  the  Fishermen.   P.  iioi. 
"  :  Christus  Consolator.    P.  iioib. 

"  :  Boy  Jesus  in  the  Temple.   L. 


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